


Retribution

by Crysania



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-11-04
Updated: 2007-12-07
Packaged: 2019-10-03 03:29:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 64,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17276261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crysania/pseuds/Crysania
Summary: Three years after the defeat of the East India Trading Company, three years after Jack and Elizabeth parted, fate brings them back together.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Original publication dates from 11/4/07 to 12/7/07

**Prologue**

It was a quiet, clear night, the moon shining brightly. The water reflected out into infinity, the horizon far beyond the view of the rail-thin woman standing on the shore. Her head was held high, her body wracked with pain. Battles were easier than this. She had taken on the scars of the battle-weary, the fire and ice of those so used to living life on the edge of a knife that it had come to thrill them. Oh yes indeed. Those days were far behind her and while she often tried to act as if that were a relief, she knew otherwise.

She craved the sea.

She craved the wind in her hair, the salt spray across her face.

She craved freedom. More than anything she craved freedom. It had been her life's blood…once, a long time ago. It felt like it had been a long time at least. How long _had_ it been? A year? Two? Twenty? She had lost track of time at some point. No longer did she scratch out the days on the few pieces of parchment left to her. No longer did she watch the track of the sun across the sky, marking the hours on the crude sundial she had assembled during her first months on the island. No…now she just lived from moment to moment, the only worry on her mind if she can get food for the day. She scavenged all day like a wild animal to bring enough fruit and coconuts to her small shack to provide her sustenance for a day or two.

And on clear nights, when she could see as far as the darkness would allow, she stood on the shore, watching, waiting, hoping for something she barely remembered, something concealed deep inside her mind.

She hoped for that freedom to return to her.

It hadn't…yet. But there was always that tiny flair of hope deep inside her breast that kept her standing at the shore, keeping her silent vigil, praying to a heathen god that _he_ would come and take her away from this.

A quiet snuffling noise greeted her and she became aware that it had been going on for some time. Turning, she spied her one and only friend on the island sitting close by, staring up at her with what could only be described as curiosity.

_Curiosity_ …

That word haunted her for a moment, brought to mind a memory that was quickly and violently banished with a hard shake of her head. No…she could not think of that. She could not take herself back in time like that and relive it all. She had done that too many times already.

"Hello boy." She spoke the words softly and watched as the scruffy mutt cocked his head even further to the side. He didn't have a name. He was just referred to as boy, mutt, pooch. She wasn't even sure how he had come to be on his island. No one lived on it. She knew. She had been around and around it, over it and through the wooded areas. She hadn't left one bit of the island unexplored in all her time here. And there was no one. But somehow this dog, this middle-aged, scruffy dog of unknown parentage had joined her on the island a month or two after she came to inhabit it. She had created a wide variety of stories for him: he was sent to her from Calypso, a sort of apology for taking her husband from her so soon after her marriage, company for her long stay on the island; he had been lost in a sea battle, fell into the sea, swam hundreds of miles to find himself on this island…a strong will the dog certainly possessed; he had been abandoned by his owners who had little food for themselves and even less food for him, an unlucky mutt left to fend for himself on this tiny little island. All of the stories were fanciful and all equally unlikely. Yet she felt he deserved a back story and since he couldn't tell it himself, she would create it, altering it time and time again depending on her mood.

Heaving a sigh, the woman finally looked down at the bundle held tightly in her arms. Had she been trying to forget about what had to be done, her mind flitting from one thing to another in order to avoid the reality of her situation?

Yes. She knew that one thing with complete certainty.

She knelt, her knees coming close to where the sea met the shoreline. The dog, her faithful companion, inched closer to her and briefly touched his cold, wet nose to her cheek. "I know." He seemed to understand, to know that her grief, her pain, was so intense that tears would not come, words would not come.

For one more moment, she pulled the bundle in her arms close to her and wondered how it had all gone wrong. One moment he had been playing with the dog, wading in the water, laughing as only a small child could laugh. And the next he was shaking, hot to the touch and cold inside, the life draining out of him while she held him and begged any god who would listen to spare his tender and too young life.

She didn't succeed. Her prayers, sent to gods who refused to listen, who turned their stony faces from a woman who had cut down people in the heat of battle without worrying about the consequences for her immortal soul, went unanswered. He died in her arms.

The fever had taken her for the days after his death, while his cold body lay wrapped in blankets near her. She was sure she would die alongside him, just punishment for her many sins. But she didn't. She had lived. And so now she sat at the shoreline, ready to send her son out to the sea he had asked so many questions about. He had never gotten to be a sailor, nor a pirate. He had never set foot on any vessel that road upon the sea. She had always promised him that someday they would be off the island and he would get to feel the wind in his hair as the great sailing ship they were on strode across the vast ocean. But that was not to be.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…" _My son into the sea_ …

She stood suddenly, clutching the bundle in her arms. The dog yelped in surprise, but then backed away from the shoreline. With little care for herself or the world around her, she strode purposefully into the sea, the salt water soaking quickly through the thin cotton of her clothes. When she was waist deep, she hugged her son one last time and then let him go into the cold, dark water.

She tried to say something, words of prayer, words of sympathy, words of anger and hatred for what had been taken from her. They wouldn't come. Grief choked her, but would not spill over into tears. The fever had burned them all out of her. There was simply nothing left to give. She was numb.

Turning, she walked back to the store, feeling the water, her beloved sea that had claimed first her husband and now her son, shifting with every step. … _As changing and harsh and untamable as the sea_. She had been once. The voice echoed in her ears. So many memories. And now she was left alone on her island, just her dog for company.

What was left to her now? What was left for her to do? Her only thoughts had been to keep herself and her son alive and occupied. She had told stories, kept him entertained, played pirates and destroyed the sand castles they had made along the shore. No one had come by in all the time she had been there and despite her utter loneliness and longing for adult companionship and conversation, she had been happy.

Her son had kept her sane.

And now he had gone to join his father somewhere in the dark sea. She hoped his father would hear the call and ferry him to the other side. Would he know that the child was his? She hoped he would recognize him, grieve for him, and realize that sometime, somehow, she would have to leave this island.

A small amount of determination pushed its way through her body, lifting her sagging head once more. Yes. This was what she had to do. Leave the island. Find a life somewhere among people, where she could hide in plain view, have friends, have a life. But how…how to get off the island? _Sea_ _turtles,_ _mate_ …

She felt a small laugh bubble to the surface. Insanity. She did _not_ want to remember him…near seducer, drunkenly shameful, nigh on impossible to understand or believe. He was more full of myths about himself than he was truths, so puffed up on the stories people told and believed about his crazy antics that more often than not, he grated on her nerves. Only when he dropped all pretense and let her see what lay behind the myths, did she enjoy her time with him.

He had been a friend, a dear friend. He had rescued her so many times, she had lost track of it. There was the corset, the parachute, the time he came back to the ship, before the Kraken…

No. Thinking about _him_ would only bring pain.

The dog, seeming to recognize that the churning thoughts haunting her mind were almost too much to bear, moved closer to her again and licked her face tentatively. She looked over, smiled slightly as her eyes met the dark, compassionate ones of the dog, and spoke directly to him for the first time that night.

"We never named you. I don't know why." Another smile, a pause, and a scratch behind the ear. "You need a name. I really can't keep calling you 'dog.' You're my only companion now." Another pause, a deep breath, the numbness settling deep inside her. "Sammy. Yes. I think Sammy shall suit you fine."

Sammy, the formerly nameless mutt, leaned against her and she put an arm around him, snuggling close to his warmth. Content for the moment, she leaned over slightly and rested her weary head on his shoulder. She would save her determination and her fight against the invading numbness for tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Cap'n?" The words were tentative and the speaker clearly not sure if he should even open up his mouth to say them.

"Yes, Mr. Gibbs?" Dangerous. That was the only word that Gibbs could think of to describe the steely edge to the man's quiet voice.

"Barbossa…he be wantin' ya." Gibbs paused, the end of his statement sounding a bit more like a question than he intended. The figure he was talking to stiffened slightly, his gaze still fixed somewhere on the horizon.

"And that is the problem, Mr. Gibbs, yes? If Barbossa is demandin' my presence and I have to respond to said summoning, then indeed, I am _not_ technically captain, even though I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. Savvy?" With the final word, he turned to finally look at his companion. His eyes were dark, the circles underneath them prominent. He was weary. Bone-weary, clearly almost tired of fighting. Those little sparks of hatred, of madness, of sheer will that resided deep within him were dim.

"Christ almighty, Captain…" Jack held up a finger and tilted his head slightly. Gibbs knew exactly what he meant. "Jack," he said forcefully. "You can't just give up."

"He's marooning me again, Gibbs. I know what he wants me for. You see that island over there?" He pointed, his arm waving wildly over the railing. "That little… _speck_."

"It's not the same island as before, Jack."

"I am aware of that, Gibbs. But that is not the point I was trying to make." He turned to gaze once more out along the railing, the island in question growing in size as the ship, _his_ ship, soon to be _not_ his ship, moved ever closer. Oh yes, he knew exactly what dear Hector intended to do with him. Dump him right off on the island that, a mere 3 years ago, he had left Miss Elizabeth Swann…no…make that Mrs. Elizabeth _Turner_ …on.

Strange…he hadn't thought much about her these past few years. That infernal girl, always in need of rescuing…well, until she had so coldly and callously chained him to the mast of his own beloved ship and left him to die at the behest of the Kraken. Chained him with a kiss, no less. Oh yes, the infernal Elizabeth had latched onto one tiny weakness of his: his curiosity, his wondering about what it would be like to kiss her, to bed her, to make her his in the most carnal of ways. And she used it to save herself, her fiancé, and the crew. He was a good man. That was all the consolation he got from her. She wasn't sorry. He was a good man. He was going down with the ship as the captain should.

Oh no, he hadn't spent one moment of the last three years and two months thinking of her. Her image had practically been forgotten, except maybe the shape of her face, or the curl of a golden brown lock, or the fire in her eyes. That fire had been the last thing he remembered when the Kraken claimed him and the _Pearl_ for the sea. That fire had been the one thing that got him through the dark days of his time in the Locker, those days of being locked into a special kind of madness he couldn't imagine ever returning to. _Do you fear death?_ No. Not anymore. But what he did fear, when he allowed himself to think on it, was being returned to that locker.

"She murdered me with a kiss…"

"What?" Jack had no idea he had spoken the words out loud until he heard Gibbs' question. He turned to look at the man, watching the other man's brow crease in question.

"Nevermind. It's not important."

"Ah…"

Jack knew he understood. He hadn't told any of his crew the truth about how he had gone down with his ship. They all believed he had chosen to stay behind, given them the chance to get away, while he played the "good man" and went down with his one and only love. Gibbs was a smart man. His unwitting slip was likely all the man needed to make the connections. Realization was suddenly written in the deep creases of his face.

"I always did wonder about what had happened between you two…"

The sentence was left open-ended, an invitation for Jack to speak if he wanted to. He did…oh did he want to. Joshamee Gibbs was the closest thing he had to a best friend, if one could think they were indeed lucky enough to be friends with the legendary Captain Jack Sparrow. " _Nothing_ happened." The words came out tighter and faster than he intended. "She murdered me, chained me to me own ship and left me to the Kraken. She saved all your miserable hides while leaving me to a fate that even _Barbossa_ would not deserve."

Bitter. He was bitter. It was not an emotion that had ever crossed his mind before _the incident_.

"Mr. Gibbs?"

"Yes Cap'n?"

Jack did not correct him this time. "That island, that one right there." He pointed. "The one that is indeed not the same island I was stranded on before, though it's nearly the same size as that one and hopefully has a wee bit of rum and some coconuts…"

"Cap'n," Gibbs warned. He was rambling.

"Let me finish!" The words came out in a roar. "That _island_ , Mr. Gibbs, is the very one I left one Elizabeth Turner, née Swann, on some years ago."

"You don't think she's still there, do you Cap'n?"

He shuddered at the thought. "I hope not, Mr. Gibbs. For you see, if she _is_ on that island, if I do come across our dear Mrs. Turner, I will not be held responsible for what I do to her _or_ what I do to one Hector Barbossa when I find said man and _my_ ship yet again." The words were quiet, sincere, and quite possibly the most frightening thing Gibbs had ever heard the good captain say.

"Ahhhh, Mr. Sparrow, there ye be." Jack winced and turned to face his former first mate.

"Captain… _Captain_ Sparrow," he muttered under his breath. Fake charm in place, he addressed the back-stabbing man. "Hector, dear Hector, and to what do I this wonderful pleasure?" He offered a grand bow.

Barbossa smiled, his lips pulling back in a yellowed grimace. "I think ye know, Jack." He nodded his head in the direction of the island and watched as both Jack and Gibbs turned to look at it. "Since ye were so reluctant to take on the duties of governor of the last little island we had ye watch over… _twice_ , we thought we'd try another locale for yer little governorship."

"I liked the other one better," Jack said quietly.

"What was that, Mr. Sparrow?" Barbossa leaned closer, his grin widening.

" _Captain_ ," both Gibbs and Jack said at once. Barbossa laughed.

"Now why on earth, would ye want me to strand ye for a _third_ time on that little island? Ye worked so bleedin' hard to get yerself off it both times, after all. What is it about _this_ island, Jack, that you don't like?"

 _Crafty little bugger_ … "Rum!"

"Rum?" Gibbs and Barbossa echoed the word together.

"Yes. Rum." Jack shoved himself away from the rail and moved closer to Barbossa. "Rum, mate. That last island was a haven for rum runners and they left a lovely little cache of rum just waiting there for _Captain_ Jack Sparrow to enjoy. It was like a little holiday, mate." He tried to forget that said rum was indeed _not_ on said other island, as it had all been burned by the treacherous Miss Swann.

Barbossa squinted at the scoundrel and Jack knew he knew he was lying. He continued anyway, a little bravado in the face of all that he knew was to come.

"You see, mate…" And he leaned in close, dropping his voice into a seductive near-purr. "The rum made it all worthwhile."

Jack stepped backward, just one or two steps, retreating to his spot near the rail. He looked to Gibbs, a glint in his eyes, and Gibbs knew what had happened, what Jack intended. Gibbs let a smile creep into his eyes for a moment, keeping the rest of his face stony.

"Although, now that I think about it, I don't believe you want to send me off to this island…"

"Oh but I _do_ , Jack." Barbossa interrupted.

"No mate. You definitely do _not_." Jack drew a pistol from behind him and aimed it square at Barbossa's chest, the same place he once shot the man. "You see, I think it will be _you_ who will end up as governor of this little island."

Barbossa's eyes widened and he reached for his own pistol, coming into contact with nothing but the holster. "My pistol?"

Jack nodded, a smug grin appearing on his face for the first time since Barbossa had led yet another mutiny against him. He really didn't quite understand why his crew, save for Gibbs and a handful of others still locked in the brig, were so willing to abandon him in a moment's notice. Three times now he had been viciously mutinied upon, left to die on an island of Barbossa's choosing. _Not this time_. This time he would take Barbossa down or die trying to. He was _not_ being left on _this_ island.

"Now move, Hector." He reached out a hand and shoved the larger man slightly, pleased to watch him raise hands in silent surrender and move in the direction Jack was herding him. It was nearly silent on the ship, the voices around him quieting to a mere hush. Jack followed Barbossa to the middle of his ship, a grin starting to form on his face as he forced Barbossa up to the plank. "Down you go now, Hector!"

Barbossa was going so willingly that Jack should have known the wily mutineer had something deep up his sleeves.

"Smith! Jackson! McCarthy!" Barbossa's harsh voice rang out among the masts and rails of the ship.

Jack winced. The men almost immediately appeared, followed by others of their shipmates and suddenly Jack found himself surrounded, pistols and swords pulled rapidly from clothing, from boots, from makeshift holders that went around their chests, and all trained on him.

He sighed. "Oh bugger."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Bugger!" A pause, a splash, and more cursing. "Bugger, triple bugger, and where the bleedin' hell is me rum?"

The man far behind him only caught a bit of the curses as he trudged through the waist deep water, trying to catch up to him. "Cap'n!"

"Ah, Mr. Gibbs." Jack turned around to face him, finding it darkly amusing that this time, for some reason, Barbossa chose to strand him with his first mate _…former_ first mate that is. "I don't believe it's 'captain' anymore, now is it? Governor. Governor Captain Jack Sparrow." The sarcasm was evident, the bitterness and anger he couldn't hide right at the surface.

Gibbs wisely chose to say nothing else, following his captain into the shallows and then finally up onto the beach itself.

Jack turned to face the sea, the look on his face inscrutable. He sat heavily down upon the warm sand and raised one hand up to shade his eyes. The sun was high above them, glinting on the sea, making it appear to be a series of magical, constantly moving lights. The _Pearl_ , much further out now than when they had been forced to leap from her deck, was steadily shrinking into the horizon.

Gibbs sat down next to Jack and tried to not to turn and stare at the captain. He, too, shaded his eyes and watched the _Pearl_ in silence. She was a beautiful ship, one he had spent many years serving on. Through each mutiny, the first unexpected one, and the subsequent two others staged by Barbossa and their idiot of a crew, he had always supported Jack. He didn't know why entirely. Jack was… fey, a wee bit touched in the head, always a bit drunk on his ever-present rum. But he was also shrewd, strangely caring, and, well, a good man. He had once heard Elizabeth describe him as such, back before they retrieved Jack from his stay in the Locker, and he couldn't help but agree with her assessment of the captain. Jack was always there, at his back, had saved his life more times than he could count. Men had died at the end of Jack's blade because they had threatened Gibbs' life, sometimes in the heat of battle and sometimes not. Gibbs knew from watching Jack's reaction to killing someone that he found it distasteful, but he also knew he wouldn't ever hesitate to defend someone close to him. Important elements, those.

He considered Jack his friend, even though he was always serving him in some capacity. While he didn't care for this marooning thing, he was glad he could be here to provide Jack with some company and hopefully the two of them could put their heads together and find a way off the little island. They weren't, after all, too terribly far from Shipwreck Cove. If they could figure out how to get off the island, it wouldn't be more than a day's sailing to get to the pirate haven.

"I can't see her anymore, Gibbs." Jack's quiet voice interrupted his reverie.

Gibbs squinted into the distance. The _Pearl_ was indeed gone, the last of her mast and sails, those beautiful and unique black sails that Jack so dearly loved, had disappeared over the horizon, heading for parts unknown. "We'll get her back, Cap'n."

"Will we?" Jack continued to stare out at the sea, a small part of him hoping that if he started long enough, the ship would suddenly turn and come back to its rightful captain, the one man on this God-forsaken earth who truly loved her. "It took me the better part of ten years to find her before, using dinghies, stolen boats, and one commandeered Navy ship." He smiled briefly at that before continuing. "The second time it was two more years…"

"Jack, why did ye let that bleedin' rat onto yer ship again?" There. The question was out in the open. It had been something Gibbs had been wondering for the past few months, ever since Barbossa had climbed aboard the _Pearl_ and started needling Jack, started getting back into the good graces of the crew, started whispering of things that hinted at mutiny. Jack had been warned and for some reason he had ignored it, laughed at the crew, called them all a bunch of "lily-livered frightened bilge rats."

 _Not good_. Jack heard the question, glanced at Gibbs for just a moment, and then returned to staring out to sea, ignoring the question. "We need to think about shelter, fire, food for the night."

"What?"

"You heard me. Get yourself gone, Mr. Gibbs, and gather up some wood for a fire. I have a feeling that once that sun goes down, the temperature is going to drop drastically with it." Jack stood, turned on his heel, and started walking away from Gibbs.

"That's ridiculous, Jack." Jack stopped and turned his head slightly to look back at his first mate, a dangerously hard glint in his eyes. "Captain…Governor Captain…For God's sake, Jack, it's been blazin' hot all day. The night isn't likely to be any different."

"Oh really?" His voice was silky. "Just gather the wood, Mr. Gibbs. I don't intend to sit on this island and freeze all night." He made a shooing motion with his hands, watching as Gibbs sighed and headed into the nearby woods. "Don't forget kindling!" he shouted over his shoulder as he continued in the direction he had first started walking in.

* * *

 

Food. Water. Rum. Those were the only three words that Jack would allow into his mind. _Not_ Elizabeth. No, he would not think about her. He would not let his mind float to wondering if she were somewhere on the very same island he was on. Food. Water. Rum. _Food.Water.Rum._ They were like a litany, a chant that was starting to sound suspiciously like music in his ears, so much so that he started to say them out loud, putting a strange little simple melody to them. "Food. Water. Rum." It was a melody that he had long forgotten, something from his childhood. It brought to mind, briefly, an image of his mother as she sang the sweet song to him, her face lined with worry as it so often was. "Food. Water. Rum." And then it slipped into something else and he found himself with other words and another melody in his mind. "…and really bad eggs."

No.

Not that. He would _not_ remember the last time Barbossa had stranded him on an island. A different island, a different life, a very different Jack Sparrow.

"I'm not a really bad egg." He paused in walking. "I'm a 'good man.'" He started walking again, this time more forcefully. Opting not to stay on the beach any longer, knowing that he would spend far too much time staring out to sea, missing the freedom he had had just a short while ago, he veered into the cove of trees nearest him.

They were a small group of palm trees, but fairly fruitful ones he noticed. Coconuts were plentiful up in the far reaches of their leaves. Excellent. Food _and_ water, all in one fruit. There would be time to procure a few of the precious things before he returned to the spot he left Gibbs at. For now, he could explore, see if there was a source of fresh water somewhere on the island.

He wondered if he should have explored that a bit more before leaving Elizabeth on the island.

Taking a step away from the trees, he suddenly found himself sprawled out on the ground, his knee painfully colliding with something on the way down. "Bugger." He rolled over on his side, coming to rest on something equally painful. He reached underneath himself, pulled it up and stared at it. It was half a coconut shell, the milk and meat completely drained. He sat up and felt around himself, looking for what had made his knee ache as bad as it did.

Sidetracked for a moment, he felt his knee and was surprised that his hand came away with blood on it. Sharp rock? The other half of the coconut? He continued his search, finally coming into contact with that sharp something. Grasping it gingerly in his hand, he brought it into view.

And stared. And then stared some more. It was made out of bone, delicately carved, beautifully made. The blade, which had a mixture of drying coconut milk and blood splattered on it was sharp and showed evidence of much use. The handle was smooth and slim. It was a cutting tool meant for small, delicate hands. A woman's knife. He turned it over in his hands and ran his thumb gently over the stylized letters he found there.

_EAS._

"Oh bugger," he whispered.

Elizabeth Anne Swann. She was there, somewhere. The coconut he had found was too recently cut into, the milk on the knife sticky, but not totally dried. She had been right where he was now sitting, slicing open the coconut he had landed on, using the very knife he had in his hands.

He wondered why it had been abandoned in such a way. It was a lovely and very useful piece.

Had she, perhaps, run off, when he had appeared? Maybe because after all this time alone, she didn't want to see a stranger? Maybe because she recognized him and didn't want to see him?

"Elizabeth?" The name, one not spoken since he had last seen her, came rustily to his lips. He stood, realizing that if she did come out of the trees around him, he wanted to face her standing, not sitting on the ground like a dog.


	4. Chapter 3

** Chapter 3 **

"Jack!" Gibbs waved at him from down the island and Jack nodded in silent acknowledgement of the other man's presence. There had been no sign of Elizabeth in the cove of trees he had spent his time in, nor had there been any evidence of her further into the island, save for the occasional broken and drained coconut. "Find anything we can use?"

Jack held up the two coconuts he had procured from one of the trees. "And plenty more where these came from!"

"Coconuts?"

"Yes Mr. Gibbs. I know you would prefer something a bit more substantial, but it appears that Barbossa wouldn't maroon us with even hard tack." A slight grin appeared on his face. "So coconuts it is for now. We'll explore more in the morning."

Gibbs nodded, slightly distracted. He would deal with the issue of food later. At least he wouldn't starve. But there were more pressing matters to attend to, one he knew Jack wasn't going to like. A worried frown appeared on his face as he watched the captain carefully setting down their hastily acquired meal.

"I don't like that look on your face, Mr. Gibbs." Jack's voice had dropped dangerously low. His eyes narrowed on his first mate as the man continued to avoid looking into his eyes.

"Just walk with me, Jack." The words were tired, coming out in pained, clipped syllables.

"Why?" He was suspicious and rightly so. What Gibbs needed to show him wasn't something Jack wanted to see, not something Jack wanted to face, maybe even something Jack wasn't quite ready to face.

"Just do it Jack. It's one of the only things I've ever asked of you." He was desperate, clearly more desperate than Jack had ever recalled seeing him.

Jack acquiesced with a nod. "I know I'm not going to like this much." The words were muttered under his breath, but Gibbs heard them nonetheless and winced.

Turning to walk along the beach, Gibbs didn't wait for Jack. He knew he would follow him. They had been through so much together over the years. After Jack had rescued him from himself, well, he had found he was wholly devoted to the pirate. _He'll consider this a betrayal_. Would he though? He had heard the words Jack spoke about Elizabeth, had heard the anger and shocking bitterness he had never though the jovial captain was capable of. But all of that was caused by _something_ deep inside the man, buried so deep that perhaps the captain didn't really understand where it all came from.

Jack fell into step alongside Gibbs, their footsteps in the warm sand the only sound for the first few minutes of their walk. It wasn't exactly a companionable silence, not this time at least. But it was quiet, peaceful..and slightly anxious.

Jack suddenly stopped walking. "She's here, isn't she?"

Gibbs stopped walking to turn and face Jack and found he couldn't quite get any words out.

The silence was all Jack needed to confirm his suspicions. Gibbs was nothing, if not completely obvious. The man ultimately made a lousy pirate. Oh sure, he had a great interest in treasure and riches, and an uncanny ability to know exactly when Jack needed a bit of rescuing, but his ability to lie and his believing in all sorts of crazy myths, especially about the great Captain Jack Sparrow, made him less than successful in his chosen "career."

"You spoke to her?" The words were out of Jack's mouth before he could stop them, a curse nearly following, choked down before he allowed it out of his mouth. He should turn around, walk back to their pile of wood, light a fire, and ignore that fact. She was here. He had abandoned here her over three years ago.

And he would have to face her. _Curse you Barbossa and your infernal mutinies_.

"No Cap'n. I saw her from a distance. I…well, I felt it best that perhaps you be there when we first approach her. I never was good with the ladies."

A smile flitted across Jack's countenance. "You do have your moments." The smile turned into an outright grin, even a leer. "You remember that time…"

Gibbs laughed out loud, feeling the tension drain from him momentarily. "Oh aye I do." The two shared a knowing smile. "That woman was…well, she weren't like no woman I've ever known before. Ah the things she could do…" That took him back many years, back to when he and Jack had been fairly young, completely certain of themselves, and not marked by all that had happened since. Those had been calm, perfect days, before the mutinies, before the Kraken and the Locker, before the war with the East India Trading Company, before _Elizabeth_. Gibbs was often loathe to admit it, even to himself, but the captain had changed since they met the woman.

"I need to continue on alone, Joshamee." It wasn't often Jack called him by his given name. It meant something, meant this was important to Jack in ways he wouldn't even attempt to guess at. "Go back to where we started from, start a fire, enjoy a coconut. I'll join you later."

Gibbs clapped Jack on the shoulder, nodded, and walked away from him, leaving Jack standing alone with his thoughts.

So this was it then. Three years and two months of not thinking about the girl who had banished him to the netherworld, three years and two months of not thinking about the too-large teeth of the Kraken, or his stay in the Locker, or the subsequent rescue, or anything that had led up to their parting. And now he was here, just a short distance away from the woman. Bugger suddenly seemed like such a mild word.

"Alright Jack ol' boy. It's time to rescue her again." He took a deep breath, then another, and then one more before continuing on his way, trudging over the rise and fall of the small sand hills. He followed the island around a slight curve, wondering how far Gibbs had walked before coming across her, when he spied a figure down the beach further.

Affecting a swagger, he walked the last bit of distance toward her. "Why Miss Swann, fancy meeting you here!" he shouted when he was still a good twenty feet from her. She didn't turn around, didn't even acknowledge his presence. In fact, she didn't move at all, not a flinch, not a jerking of the wrist, nothing. Jack paused for a moment, surprised. "Miss Swann?" He shouted her name again, even venturing on to call her by her married name. Nothing.

He took another step toward her and, for the first time, noticed her companion. The small, scruffy dog stood and moved out from under the arm Elizabeth had draped over him. He turned and walked partway toward Jack, stopping to growl and bare his teeth at the man who dared intrude on his little world.

It was finally then that Elizabeth moved. He heard her voice, tentative and surprised. "Sammy?" She turned to look at the dog and he watched as her eyes first lit on the dog and then followed along the path of his gaze to finally come to rest on him. She cocked her head to the side, a deep furrow appearing between her eyes. "Jack?"

"Aye." She was thinner than he remembered. Much thinner. Even from a distance of twenty or so feet, he could tell that her cheekbones stuck out much further than he remembered, the skin around them having sunken in to dramatically accent them.

"Jack!" She stood suddenly, perhaps too quickly for she swayed dramatically, causing Sammy to bark again and causing Jack to suddenly spring into motion. He caught her before she was able to fall, arms coming around her skeletal frame, sinking to the ground with her to cushion the fall. He landed hard on his knees with Elizabeth thrown carelessly into the crooks of his arms. He set her down, letting her come to rest on the warm, comfortable sand.

She wouldn't be down for long, though, as she quickly bounced back to her knees. "Jack! You came back for me. I knew you would. You left me here so long ago, told me to wait for William, told me you were sailing off for parts unknown. I've been waiting. Too long Jack. Too long! I need to leave this place." Her voice was fervent, desperate. She touched first his face, then his hair, feeling each bead that was in view, and touching his bandanna lightly, then reached down to grasp his hands in as tight a grip as he could imagine she was capable of.

The light in her eyes was bright, almost too bright. She looked feverish, strange, a little crazed. _Daft like Jack_. "Elizabeth?"

She continued on, not even hearing the soft entreaty. Jack wasn't even entirely sure what she rambled of, he just simply held her hands as she continued the barrage of words. God, was this what he had done to her? Leaving her here for so long with no one but herself to talk to?

She deserved it, didn't she? _Yes. That she did_. This had obviously been her own personal hell, much like the Locker had been his. By leaving her on this island, by not returning to retrieve her, he had effectively taken away her freedom, deprived her of the sea and the beauty of sailing on the likes of the _Black_ _Pearl._ He had tortured her…a fine bit of retribution for what she had once done to him. _She rescued you, Jack._ It somehow seemed appropriate that he be here to rescue her from a similar kind of hell.

"Miss Swann!" The words were sharper and they alone seemed to finally pull her out of whatever world she had gone into upon his appearance.

"You're really here, aren't you Jack? Tell me this isn't a hallucination." Her voice was soft, amazed, a little bit rougher than he remembered.

"No. It's not a hallucination, love. I'm here."

"So you came back for me?" A small smile, the first he had seen on her face in a long time, appeared. She looked so hopeful, so excited.

"No, love. No I did not. My being here is an…accident, at best." The words came out flatter than he had intended. No emotion. The bitterness was just under the surface, threatening to overwhelm him at any moment. He refused to feel any sort of emotion about this girl. She was nothing…a slip of a girl, a murderess, a pirate deprived of her freedom and a ship.

"No?" Her face fell, the smile turning quickly into a frown. "So you won't take me with you when you leave?" She let go of his hands and turned from him, retreating to her original place on the beach, facing the ocean. "So I am to spend the rest of my days staring out to sea, always longing for that which I cannot have." This time it was not a question, rather a statement of fact as she saw it.

"Well, you see…" An embarrassed laugh crossed his lips. "Remember the last time we were on an island very much like this one?"

Elizabeth turned to look at him, one eyebrow rising, a slightly incredulous look coming into her eyes. "You lost the _Pearl_ again, Jack?"


	5. Chapter 4

** Chapter 4 **

"I did not _lose_ the _Pearl_ , Miss Swann." He stood suddenly, drew himself up to his full height and looked down at the girl.

"No, Jack?" She followed his lead, pulling herself to unsteady feet. He moved forward to catch her if she fell, remembering just moments ago when he had had to do that very thing. She waved him off and he could see her dig her toes deep into the sand to steady herself.

Raising his hands in mock surrender, he continued. "I know exactly where the _Pearl_ is." He did, sort of, know where she was after all. He watched her raise another eyebrow. _Bloody hell_. "Yes. I do know _exactly_ where she is. See that ocean over there?" He waved one arm out toward the sea, knowing his precious freedom was out there somewhere. "She's out there."

"That's what I thought." Prim and proper, ever the lady of quality.

" _What_ , exactly, did you think, my dear Miss Swann?" His voice dropped low.

Elizabeth suddenly started to move, slowly, ever so slowly toward him. He remembered a time very much like this, a time when he thought she was trying to seduce him, a time when he had allowed her to pull him in, allowed him to taste her, for just a moment. _No…not this time_. He backed up a couple feet before coming to realize that his retreating would make him look cowardly. Oh no, he would face this one, dignity completely intact. He stopped and let her come close, _too close_. She was very near him when she spoke again.

"Oh, Jack." The words were soft and a little sad.

"I don't need your pity, love." It was the most honest thing he had said in a long time.

"I'm not offering it." The tilt of her head said otherwise.

"I know you better than that." It was a simple statement of fact. There might have been over three years between the times they last saw each other, but one thing would never change. They were peas in a pod, two people whose hearts and minds were clearly in sync. They wanted the same thing, lived within the same burning fire, longed for the same freedoms that only a life on the sea could offer.

"So how _did_ you come to be here, Jack?" She elongated his name, drawing it out, and ending it with a hard "k." She was the only one who had ever said his name quite like that and he couldn't quite explain why it sent shivers up his spine to hear it said that way once again.

He sighed, knowing it was useless. He had no good explanation for why he would be on this little island, stuck out in the middle of nowhere. She wouldn't buy into his claiming he was shipwrecked. He could deal with losing the _Pearl_ to Barbossa, knowing she was out there some and he could find her yet again. But a wreck? Lose the _Pearl_ like that? No. He knew she wouldn't believe he could be so cavalier about that. And besides, as soon as they got back to camp, Gibbs would likely tell her the truth. That inability to lie thing would rear its head again. "Well, you see…Hector…"

"Hector?" she interrupted him with. "Hector _Barbossa_? Oh Jack, please tell me you did _not_ let him back onto your ship."

A sheepish grin told her everything she needed to know. It told the whole story, from start to finish. Jack, a man with too strong a nice streak, allowed his former first mate to come on his ship. No doubt the man had told a sob story of being stranded, of being without a ship, pledged to follow Jack this time and not lead a mutiny. And then, because all Hector Barbossa ever wanted was what Jack Sparrow already had, he led yet another mutiny against the good captain and stranded him here, on this island, with her.

"Why here, Jack?"

He lifted his shoulders in a slight shrug, indicating that he was as in the dark about that little aspect of the mutiny. "I guess he wanted to try a new locale."

"It was because of me." She knew it, for some reason. Barbossa didn't do anything without a reason. "He wanted to leave you here…alone…with me." She leaned further forward, one finger reaching out to lightly touch his chest. "I wonder…" A little bit closer, her eyes meeting Jack's and not looking away. "…why." And then the sand shifted underneath her. She was overbalanced, her body still weak from the fever, unable to correct her forward motion. She was falling, falling into Jack, and she knew she couldn't stop herself.

Jack saw it coming, winced as it happened almost in slow motion. He reached out to catch her again, this time forced to pull her forward, tight against his chest.

Elizabeth gasped and looked up at him as his arms came around her and she collided forcefully with his chest. Silence descended on them as they both stood, locked in this strange embrace. Neither was willing to move one way or another. He could have stepped back, steadied her on her feet, retreated from the burning look in her eyes. She could have used him to regain her footing, pushed away from him and stood of her own accord.

But neither moved. Neither said anything for moments, one pair of dark eyes colliding with te other in a clash of desperation and will. Had it really been three years since they last saw each other?

"Oh, Jack." This time it was whispered and there wasn't a hint of sadness in it. Jack heard a little bit of surprise, a little bit of resignation, a little bit of…something. She didn't appear to want to move, even though her arm was trapped behind her body and his chest, held in an awkward position with her fingers splayed out across his chest and her elbow nearly digging into his stomach.

He pushed her away. It was the only thing he could really think to do at that moment. He was slightly horrified at himself when she stumbled, tripped over her own feet, and sank down onto the sand. He closed his eyes and turned his head away. _Remember what she did to you, ol' boy._ This wasn't some sweet, innocent woman, someone who he really should feel protective toward. This was Elizabeth Swann…no…Elizabeth _Turner_ , another man's wife, a woman who had condemned him to hell. She was hard; she was battle-weathered, tested time and time again and had proved her merit to a ship in a time of war.

Then why the bloody hell was she looking up at him with her eyes looking strangely watery?

 _Bugger_.

"Come on, Miss Swann…" He turned to walk away.

"Mrs. Turner."

He stopped, rolling his eyes skyward. "Whatever." He continued on his way. "We're camped out further down the beach, if you'd like to join us."

"Us?" He stopped again and turned back to face her. She hadn't moved from the spot she had fallen. _Pushed, me boy…she was pushed there…she didn't just fall_. Her face was tilted up to him and for some reason she looked even more worried than she had before. He walked back to her, squatted down before her.

"Jealous, love?" The words were said with his customary grin. She knew what he was thinking. Exasperated, she pulled herself to her feet, a tight smile opening up to meet his. _An eye for an eye_ …

"No."

"Good, then follow me, Miss Swann."

And she couldn't resist. How could she? The charm of Jack Sparrow… _Captain_ Jack Sparrow, even without a ship to call his own…was almost a gravitational pull all its own.

"Sammy." The word surprised Jack and he looked at her with his brow furrowed.

She indicated the dog, that scruffy little mutt who he had completely forgotten about. A sigh of resignation. "Bring him, too." Sammy, clearly happy to be included, wriggled in contentment when she reached a hand down to pet him briefly. He followed along as the pair headed off across the beach.

She wondered who the other person with Jack was. The last time he had been left on an island by Barbossa, it had been _she_ who had been left with him. That was not how it had all been planned, but it had worked out that way and they had had a…well, if she couldn't quite call it a "nice evening" together, it was at least an interesting outing where they learned a fair amount about each other.

So who was it this time?

 _Jealous?_ If she were to admit it to herself, she would have to admit that yes, she was jealous. If she were to admit it to herself, she would have to admit that she followed him out of sheer curiosity. _Curiosity…_ If she were to admit it to herself, she would admit that a part of herself had awakened on that beach when she had heard Jack's voice calling her name.

But that was _if_ she would admit it to herself. And indeed, she would not.


	6. Chapter 5

** Chapter 5 **

The walk back to their camp seemed to take a lot longer than the walk away from it. They trudged over the sand in silence. Elizabeth wanted it to be companionable silence, but she had seen the look in Jack's eyes, an anger he couldn't entirely hide. It was something he seemed to live with now. She didn't remember it before. His shoulders had never looked so stiff. The set of his mouth had never looked so hard. There were new lines around his mouth, between his eyebrows. Little else had changed about the man.

She stole a glance at him. Indeed, something had changed about Jack Sparrow. During the last few years, whenever she had allowed her mind to float to those days of excitement and piracy, she remembered Jack as a jovial, perpetually drunk, and slightly daft man. Yes, he was arrogant. Yes, he was a bit too full of his own accomplishments. He was definitely too full of his own seductive charms. Which was why, really, it was quite ironic that it had been _she_ who had finally…

_No!_ Why was she letting her mind go this way? She looked down at Sammy, her companion of the past two years. She had to remember who she was, how she had been abandoned on this island by Jack. He had to have known she would be alone here with no way off. It was callous. And maybe someday she would get to ask him why he had done it.

"Ah…the fire is going. Excellent." Up ahead, Elizabeth could see what he was referring to. The orange and yellow flames were creating a glow in the rapidly dimming light. There was something still so strange about the way the sun went down on these islands. It seemed to rapidly sink into the horizon and on a clear day you could almost watch its descent. Today she didn't watch it. Today she was focused elsewhere.

Jack sped up slightly as they approached the fire and Elizabeth, not wanting to be left behind, quickened her step. When they got close, a figure appeared alongside the fire, silhouetted in the smoke the fire gave off.

"Blast it, Jack, what took ye so long?" The voice was exasperated and completely impatient. But it was welcome, oh so welcome.

"Mr. Gibbs!" She shouted and ran ahead of Jack. She had known Gibbs for a long time, longer than anyone else still alive. He had been there for her father's and her crossing from England so many years ago, back when he had been an honest merchant sailor. And then he had been there when she first met Jack, suddenly a pirate and living the life she had once dreamt about and he had once warned her about.

"Miss Elizabeth!" He stepped away from the fire to grasp her in a quick embrace. "Why, I never thought I'd see the day!" She saw him look quickly from her to Jack and she wondered at the odd look.

"Well, now that we're all reacquainted, perhaps we should think about some dinner!" The words Jack spoke were bright, perhaps a bit too bright for them to be naturally upbeat. Elizabeth watched Gibbs grimace and she knew he heard it too. Something was wrong here. She just kept coming back to that. Jack was hiding something and it wasn't just about Barbossa's latest mutiny and his loss of the _Pearl_.

"Aye," Gibbs said, sounding resigned. "Dinner."

"What did you catch for dinner?"

"Catch, Miss Elizabeth?"

"Ah…" She guessed, and rightly so, that they had not found the small stream full of fish, nor did they realize there were small game and birds populating their little haven.

"Coconuts, Miss Swann," Jack said and hefted the two he had procured earlier. "I only 'caught' two since there was only Gibbs and I here, but I'm sure we can split them three ways and still have enough to keep us going 'til morning." He pulled out the knife he had found earlier and started to slice into the first of the coconuts.

Elizabeth reached out and grasped his wrist with a hard grip. "My knife. Where did you get it?"

Jack glanced down at it, once again admiring the delicateness of it, so obviously meant for her small hands. "I found it in a cove of trees, carelessly tossed there." He continued to slice into the first coconut, cutting all the way through the shell and dividing it in half. He handed her part of it.

"I…Things happened and I had to leave quickly." She spoke the words quickly. _My son…_ Why couldn't she tell Jack about him? For some reason, one she didn't entirely understand herself just yet, she felt the need to hide his existence from the man. It was all too new, too raw. She wanted to keep him to herself just a little bit longer. No one had ever known of him, no one had ever met him except she and little Sammy. For just a little while longer, she would keep his precious memory to herself.

"Things?" Jack echoed the word softly. "Well, you left it and it's mine now."

"I made it."

He looked down at it, suddenly even more impressed with the fine craftsmanship of the bone knife. "Well, you abandoned it, which means it was up for grabs, ergo, it belongs to the first person who laid claim to it, which happens to be me."

"It has my initials engraved on it." She reached out to him to try and flip it over. He pulled it away from her.

"So it does. But you also forget one thing, love."

"And what might that be?"

"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow and what I say, goes." He reached into his half of the coconut, pulled out a piece of the meat, and thrust it into his mouth, carefully licking each finger clean while he waited for the next thing Elizabeth might say.

She watched him eat it, trying to ignore the strange feelings deep inside her core that were just straining to come to the surface. Each little lick, each tongue swirl around a finger and she stopped breathing just a little bit, felt her heart skip a beat. _Christ_ …

"Were you going to say something, Miss Swann?" He was grinning now.

She nearly bared her teeth at him with her next statement. " _Captain_ Jack Sparrow indeed. And where might your ship be, _Captain_?" That one cut. She could see it in the way he quickly drew his breath in, the way he drew away from her. And she could hear it echoed in the strangled sound Gibbs made.

"Fine then, Miss Swann. Enjoy your meal." He turned quickly on his heal and walked to the other side of the fire, where he was hidden from their view.

Elizabeth sighed.

"Now why did you go sayin' that, Miss Elizabeth?" She looked at Gibbs and winced at the disappointed look written into the deep crevices of his face.

"I don't know." It was an honest response. Something made her want to lash out at him. Maybe it was the discovery of the knife, so hastily dropped when her son had suddenly taken ill. Maybe it was the stress of seeing _him_ again, knowing her prayers for his arrival had been answered and yet, _not_ answered since he arrived on the island without a ship, as helpless as she had been for the past three years. "I'll have to apologize to him, won't I?"

"Aye." Gibbs nodded as he spoke. "Ye hurt his pride."

"Can one actually hurt his pride? It has always been so…enormous." Once again, she spoke without thinking.

"His pride is a mask, Miss Elizabeth. It seems ye don't know Jack as well as I thought ye must, considering all the effect ye've had on him."

"Have I affected him?" That was an interesting thought. She never thought she might have any way of affecting the great Captain Jack Sparrow. He was a legend and, a sudden though…she supposed legends had a way of turning up completely human in the end.

"I think that's for you two to sort out. I think I should find Jack and that knife, get myself a little something to eat." He looked distastefully down at the last coconut. "It's good to see ye again, miss." With that, he walked off, retreating to the other side of the fire, leaving Elizabeth alone with her thoughts.

It was cold on the beach. The wind had picked up slightly and it brought a chill with it she hadn't been expecting, considering the heat of the past few days. She sat down where she stood, wondering if Jack and Gibbs would return to her. Delving into the coconut, she pulled some of the meat out and carefully ate the sticky, sweet innards. It was a taste she would be quite happy to abandon in, hopefully, the near future. After all this time of eating them, she was incredibly sick of the taste. When she got off the island, she vowed to never eat another one.


	7. Chapter 6

** Chapter 6 **

"Gibbs?"

"Aye Cap'n?"

"We need to find a way off this island." Gibbs and the good captain had been sitting in a sort of companionable silence for a little while, each finishing off their bits of coconut and lost in their own thoughts.

"Indeed we do." Gibbs knew that too many days of sitting near this fire, eating nothing but coconuts and not having a drop of rum to drink would drive them both crazy, or perhaps crazi _er_ in the case of the captain. "Do we have a plan?"

"Of course we have a plan!" Jack's voice rose slightly. He was clearly indignant.

"And that plan might be…"

"One that I will reveal to you…eventually." Cagey.

"So in other words, we have no plan and ye'll let me know when ye figure it out?"

"You are a smart man, Mr. Gibbs."

_Bloody hell_.

"And what of Miss Elizabeth?" He broached the question as delicately as he could. She had really cut Jack down a short while ago, enough so that Jack had felt the need to retreat as far away from her as he could in that moment. When Gibbs had ended his conversation with the woman and followed Jack around to the other side of the fire, he had found him sitting half in shadow, in a lotus position, staring into the flickering light of the fire. His expression had been inscrutable and Gibbs, not one for interrupting a man's inner thoughts, sat down nearby. Jack had handed him the knife, still quiet, and Gibbs had broken into the coconut with a deep sigh.

"We take her with us."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, surprised at that. When Jack went on, it made a little bit more sense to his somewhat addled brain.

"And then we drop her off on the first inhabited island we come across."

"Ahhh…that be Shipwreck Cove."

"No doubt they will be wondering where their _king_ has been all these years." Jack's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Aye. That would be accurate." Jack fell back into silence. There was little else to say. Whenever they found a way off, they would _have_ to take Elizabeth with them. There was a small part of himself, deep inside, that thought it would be just to leave her to suffer alone here for a longer time, maybe return in a year or two to visit his old friend. _Harsh, Jack_. Too harsh. He couldn't do it to her. She had murdered him, traded him to Davy Jones without batting even one of her pretty little eyelashes. And yet, she was Elizabeth. That might be meaningless twaddle to someone else, but to him, there was so much embodied in that one word: strength of will that matched his own, determination that matched his own, and a stubbornness that also matched his own. In his more fanciful moments, those moments that were totally soaked in rum when he couldn't control his body nor his thoughts, he thought of her as some sort of twin to his own soul. They were very much alike, despite the unlikeliness of that. A governor's daughter, born and bred to be waited on, treated like royalty. And a pirate, born to be on the high seas, always avoiding the hangman's noose. Strange how life worked out like that.

Those were in his most fanciful moments, however. And this was definitely not one, so he was left to wonder why he was thinking about those moments right now. Maybe it was because she was so close, just on the other side of the blazing fire. He really should be thinking much darker thoughts about one Elizabeth Swann…or Turner…or whatever she preferred to be called. He had just cut him down with one short sentence, one small question. _And where might your ship be, Captain?_ Ouch. That one stung.

He'd get that ship back…and this time, he swore, he wouldn't allow Barbossa on board. He had killed him once. He could kill him again. He'd lock him in the brig, maybe with Elizabeth…

The ideas just kept coming.

Was this what being sober was like? His brain was remarkably not addled at the moment, despite all he had gone through recently

"I'm turnin' in Cap'n." Jack nodded, waving Gibbs away with one graceful hand.

"Sleep well, friend." Jack watched as Gibbs found himself a comfortable spot in the sand, rolled over on his side, facing away from the fire and Jack.

Sighing, Jack pulled himself to his feet. He had stormed away from Elizabeth awhile ago, left her alone on the other side of the fire. Like a moth to the flame, he felt the need to return to her and talk to her.

* * *

 

Elizabeth was sitting with her back to the fire, legs pulled up tight to her chest, and eyes focused out to sea. He had seen that haunted look before, knew the feeling of longing and worry that was written all over her features. She _was_ shockingly thinner than the last time he had seen her, the muscle she had gained during her time working on ships having disappeared to reveal a skeletal, narrow frame. It was almost uncomfortable looking at her like this. Perhaps it was even more uncomfortable because he wanted to protect the fragile-looking woman, wanted to feed her until she looked healthier and looked more like the Elizabeth knew…or rather, used to know. She seemed to be a different woman now, marked by her time alone on the island.

He was reminded of many years ago, when he had landed in a small village on the coast of Italy and a dear friend of his had him over for dinner and insisted on feeding him…and feeding him…and feeding him some more until he almost felt like exploding he was so filled up. He had nearly waddled away from the table on more than one occasion and he was certain he could see his stomach protruding slightly when they finally departed. Elizabeth looked like she could use a bit of that. When he had stopped her from falling earlier, he could feel every rib beneath the thin cotton shirt. She was boney in places women should not be boney, her body almost hurting when it came into contact with his, sharp bones colliding heavily with him. She did not look comfortable. Rather, she looked like a woman on the brink of falling apart in a myriad of ways.

He cleared his throat quietly and watched as she started and then turned to look briefly in his direction. Silhouetted in the fire as he was, he knew she couldn't see the expression on his face, knew he was nothing more than a shadow, but he also knew she would know who it was.

"Jack." Her voice was flat. He stepped out of the shadows and joined her on the beach, his eyes never leaving her.

"It's hard looking out there, in'it? Seeing the sea, knowing if you just had a way to get out there, you could escape and go anywhere you wanted to go." His voice was soft and sincere.

"Freedom," Elizabeth said, the word coming out in a sigh.

"More than just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails."

She turned to look at him. The constantly flickering shadows made it hard to focus on his face, though she tried very hard to. "Why did you leave me here, Jack?" The words came out sounding gently curious, even though Jack knew it was a question she had probably wracked her mind to understand over the years.

"I can't say, love." It was an honest response.

"Can't say or _won't_ say?"

He paused, and his brow furrowed slightly. "Can't, love." He turned and met her eyes. They stayed locked like that for awhile. There were no words that could be spoken at that moment, nothing either could really say that would take away the pain of their betrayals.

Jack looked away from those soft eyes and changed the subject, pulled them away from such dangerous territory. "Tomorrow we'll start figuring out a way to get off this island."

"You have ideas, Jack?" Her voice was hopeful.

"Sea t…"

"Seriously, Jack. No sea turtles this time. I've looked. They're not here." The words were light-hearted, but her eyes remained serious.

"Do I have any ideas? A few, none of which I'm sure are entirely workable." He paused.

"Well, let's have them."

"No sea turtles, really?" She shook her head and he sighed. "No sea turtles then. My one main idea floats around finding a way to fashion a raft and some oars and then row ourselves, carefully, to Shipwreck Island. It might take us only a day to row from here to there, maybe two, but it's entirely possible."

"How do we make a raft?" The excitement was obvious in her voice, the hope at getting out of her own personal hell. He grimaced. He hoped there was a real chance of it.

"Well…you'll just have to trust me on that one." He winked, leaned toward her almost brushing her shoulder with his. Her body mirrored his and she leaned in toward him. They made contact, briefly, before both retreated to their solitary places, Elizabeth with a slight smile on her face and Jack with an outright grin.

They had been friends, once. At least, Elizabeth had thought they were. Back when there was real trust between them, before she had betrayed him, before he had abandoned her to this island.

"Can I trust you, Jack?" She looked at him, her face serious, the light-hearted moment gone before it even really began.

He turned to look at her, his face equally serious. "Yes." The word was whispered. "You can always trust me, Elizabeth."


	8. Chapter 7

** Chapter 7 **

Jack, Elizabeth, and Gibbs all heaved a great sigh and collapsed, nearly as one, onto the beach. It felt like they had been there for months, trying to fashion some sort of contraption to get them off the island. In reality, it had only been a week and a half.

Each day began with one of the trio, whoever was first up, jostling the other two awake. First up also had the distinct honor of going in search of more coconuts. For Jack and Elizabeth, the "hunt" for their breakfast was a chance to stretch their legs, a chance to have a little time away from the others, something that was, ultimately, quite welcomed. They were always trying to be the first up. For Gibbs, it was a time to grumble, a time to curse Barbossa for stranding him on the island with Jack, and a time to dread the sticky sweetness of the coconut innards.

Today had been Elizabeth's day and she had greeted the coming of the dawn with a good amount of merriment. She had crawled over to Jack, who each night had slept just a little bit closer to her, and gently woke him up. His eyes had opened slowly, an obvious protest to suddenly finding himself waking up, and focused on hers. A small smile had graced his lips before he spoke, his voice gravelly from being unused for the night. "Good morning, love." She had smiled in return and started to move away to wake up Gibbs, but Jack had suddenly grasped her wrist in one hand. Forced to remain leaning above him, she had given him a questioning look. "Let sleeping monsters lie."

He had suddenly sat up, still holding her wrist, and moved her with him until she was kneeling and facing him. She had raised an eyebrow, wondering at his strange non-verbal communication. "Tell me something, Elizabeth…" He had paused and had finally let go of her wrist. "What will you do when you get off this island?"

It had been something she had spent a long time thinking about…three years and two months worth of thinking about it to be more exact. Not that long ago, she had had any number of ideas: return to Port Royal and seek the protection of the new governor there, though she knew that one was highly unlikely considering she was no doubt now wanted for piracy; return to Shipwreck Cove and see about what duties the "pirate king" might have; or maybe she would find a ship of her own and sail the high seas with a crew. The last had been the most appealing and she had spent many an hour sitting on the beach imagining just that.

But at that moment, when Jack had asked her, so sincerely, what she might do with herself, she had come to realize she wasn't entirely sure anymore. Having her own ship, procuring what she needed from fat merchant ships and taking care of her crew, was terribly unlikely. She hadn't sailed in far too long and she knew that many men, especially experienced pirates, were not likely to follow a woman with so little experience. But sailing…oh, how she longed to be on the sea!

"I don't know," she had answered. It had been entirely honest and Jack, looking slightly concerned, had nodded. "I'll figure something out."

He had stared at her for a few more moments, expression as inscrutable as always. Gibbs had grumbled and sat up then, breaking the moment between them. It had been a strange start to a long and productive day.

After breakfast that morning, they had set about trimming the leaves and branches from the last of the four dead palm trees they had found. Rather than attempting to cut down new ones on their own, the trio had split up and combed the island for fallen palm trees. Each had found several and after perusing each and every one of them, they had chosen four that seemed to be good candidates for a raft. They had to be about the same size and length, as they were unable to cut them down in size, and they wanted them sufficiently dried out so they would float easily.

Then came the much more difficult task of finding a way to lash them together. The usual way would be to use twine. That was clearly not going to work, as they had no twine. They had put their heads together and Elizabeth came up with the final solution. They could rip up what cotton clothing they didn't need and braid it into long ropes, lash them together that way. They all doubted they would hold up under much strain, but they didn't have to get too terribly far and ultimately, they had no other options left to them.

Elizabeth had disappeared, insisting that back further in the island she had other clothes that she had taken with her, some in terrible states of disrepair. She had retreated to her little shelter, the home she had built for herself and her son some time ago. There she had all the clothes that had belonged to both herself and her son. They were ragged and unevenly made, especially her son's. When she had been dropped off on the island, she had taken her trunk of clothes with her. Her son had been an unexpected but very welcome addition to her life here and she had been forced to make his clothes from some of hers. She had never been a good seamstress, so his clothes had been adequate, but nothing she would have wanted him to be out in public in.

As she had picked up each piece, memories had come to the surface, one after another. Here was a pair of pants, the knee ripped out from the time he had fallen in the woods. She had intended to repair them…when he got better. And here was the shirt that he wore every Sunday, the only shirt she wouldn't allow him to play in. She called it his "Sunday best" and he had worn it in the morning, when they had kneeled at the shoreline, praying to a God she wasn't sure she believed in anymore. The tears had begun to flow then, just one at a time at first and finally ending in a torrent as she held each piece of precious clothes for a moment before tearing them into long strips. The only piece of clothing she had kept to herself, the only one that she could not tear up, even in order to get herself off the island, was that Sunday shirt. She folded it up carefully and tucked it inside her own shirt. It would serve as a reminder of the son she would never forget.

She had returned to the beach with her cotton strips and had turned them over to Jack, careful to avoid his probing eyes. He had reached out to her, gripping her chin in one hand and tilted it up toward him. His eyes had narrowed slightly, made that much more dramatic by the fading kohl lining them, and his head had tilted back to give her the impression he was looking down his nose at her, studying her, trying to figure something out. She had given him a half smile and shrugged, and he let her go. But she had known he had questions, had known he must have recognized that something wasn't quite right.

He hadn't said another word on it, though she knew it was just a matter of time before he questioned her.

Lashing together the raft had been quite a chore. First Elizabeth had had to teach the men how to braid properly. There were a lot of fits and starts and for a time, she had been able to set her troubles aside. Much laughter had abounded as both men had gotten frustrated, stopped, started again, threw the cotton at each other and then finally at Elizabeth when she had admonished them for their poor braiding skills. Out of sheer frustration, she had sent them off in search of lunch and finished braiding the long lines herself.

She hadn't been sure they would be able to actually lash them together properly, but the cotton strips seemed to hold, for the moment. The three of them had rejoiced, thrown their hands in the air and danced around the fire pit like crazy people. It had been fun, laughing with the two men she had known so long.

When the trio finally collapsed onto the beach, it was the signal that their long day was coming to an end. The work and the laughter, the fights and the fun, all culminating in complete and utter exhaustion.

Elizabeth was the first to speak after several long moments of companionable silence. "We did it. We really made a raft, didn't we?"

"We did." Jack's voice was quiet, but oddly still concerned.

"What's wrong, Jack?" She didn't like the sound of his voice, the hidden meanings she couldn't quite grasp.

"The obvious."

"Obvious?" Nothing seemed particularly obvious at the moment.

"Will it float? Will it work? You know, all the important stuff." He waved one hand dismissively.

"Aye, the important stuff," Gibbs echoed.

"Oh." A pause. "It has to float."

Jack smiled, a sad smile, and turned his head to glance at her out of the corner of his eye. "I know, love."

Silence descended once more on the trio. No one could speak the words that were all on their minds. If the raft didn't work, if they couldn't get it to float and carry the three of them, then they had no other options, no other plans. They might be very likely stuck where they were until someone came near the island and Elizabeth knew exactly how likely _that_ was considering the first ship that came anywhere near her island was the _Pearl_ and only then it was to drop off more people to be stranded.

Jack stood. "I'm going to go find us some dinner."

"Great…more coconuts." Gibbs rolled his eyes.

As Jack disappeared into the trees nearby, Elizabeth stood and tossed some more wood on their fire.


	9. Chapter 8

** Chapter 8 **

The next day, the day they had planned on launching their raft and starting their journey to Shipwreck Cove, started with rain. The trio was awakened to fat droplets landing on their faces, soaking their clothes quickly to the skin. They were all instantly awake, instantly alert, and instantly worried about their heavy raft and what the result of the soaking rain would be on it.

It was too heavy to move far, though they had tried to heave it across the beach and into the covering of the palm trees.

They huddled near to their now extinguished fire, sitting close to each other for extra warmth. The rain, blowing in from somewhere in the north, was fairly chilly on their bare skin.

"Bugger," Jack said.

"Bloody hell," Gibbs echoed.

Elizabeth remained silent, wrapping her arms tightly around her knees and staring miserably out at the rocky sea. All their plans, just about at fruition, could be ruined now. It would take days for the logs to dry out. She had no idea if they would float after the rain they were receiving finished its job.

"I can't deal with this rain anymore," Gibbs announced, crawling to his feet. "If ye need me, I'll be somewhere back there." He waved at the trees and then headed off in that direction, muttering under his breath as he did so.

Jack and Elizabeth didn't even acknowledge his departure. Their eyes, both dark and unreadable, continued to stare forward. Both were in their own world and for the moment at least, no one else could possibly intrude.

Jack's thoughts, which centered almost wholly around what he would do to Barbossa when he finally caught up with the rat, were finally interrupted by a strange sound coming from Elizabeth. He turned to look at her, a quizzical look on his face. "What was that?"

"I'm cold, Jack." The words came out harsher than she intended. She softened her voice a bit as she met his eyes. "My teeth are chattering."

"Oh."

"Oh? Is that all you can think to say?" Her voice had raised a little bit higher.

"Well, what the bloody hell do you _want_ me to say?" The volume of his voice rose to match hers.

"Oh I don't know." She rolled her eyes. "Let's see, maybe 'Miss Swann, I'm sorry you're cold.' Or maybe something like 'Here, _love_ , let me lend you my precious coat, so you can be warm!' Or maybe…"

"You're angry." The words came out half statement, half question.

"Of course I'm angry!" She very nearly screeched the words and cringed inwardly at the horrible sound of a voice she hadn't heard come from her mouth in a long time. She stood suddenly, the colour of her face turning a rather dramatic shade of red. A strange feeling moved through her…anger, sadness, hate all mixed with something she just couldn't define. "I…" She had no more words, nothing else she could think of to say. The anger was engulfing her mind and leaving her utterly incoherent. It was not a state she liked to be in and so she turned and strode away from him, each angry stride taking her a good distance away from Jack.

She didn't hear Jack scramble up behind her to follow her. Her first indication that he had done so was the two hands that roughly grasped her upper arms and spun her around. She let out a gasp as she was forced to turn quickly in the wet sand. "Damn you, Jack Sparrow," she said through gritted teeth.

"Captain…"

She raised her hand to slap him across the face, but Jack moved quickly to catch her forearm in his grip, holding the arm out and away from her body, and even further away from his oft-slapped face. "Tsk tsk. Elizabeth, what _has_ gotten into you?" His voice was patronizing and she sneered at him, very nearly baring her teeth in the process.

"That is _Miss Swann_ to you." She spit the words out through a clenched jaw.

He let go of both her arms quickly, as if he had just touched the fire that was burning within her. "Fine then. Have it your way!" He turned on his heel, a sharp snapping motion that was more likely to be seen among young navy men than the rum-drunk pirate, and strode away from her.

_How dare he!_ Elizabeth ran after him. This fight was _not_ over, not while she still had so much anger within her. "Don't you run away from me!"

"I am _not_ running away, _Miss Swann_." He turned around to face her once more and she was shocked by the blaze in his eyes, the way his eyebrows were drawn low over darkened eyes.

"No? Then what do you call this?" She crossed her hands over her chest, looking very much like an arrogant and petulant child.

"Walking. I am _walking_ away from you. And I intend to _keep_ walking away from you until you can act rational." He started to turn away from her again and this time it was her turn to grasp the other by the arms and stop them from moving. She held him in place more by her force of will than through physical exertion. Her dark eyes stared into his equally dark ones, trapping his gaze, forcing him to keep looking at her.

"Rational?" She said the word quietly, the anger so deep, so ingrained, that the word sounded cold. " _Rational_ , Mr. Sparrow? You stranded me on this island." She poked him in the chest. "Left me here to die." Another poke. "Or, worse." Poke. Jack wrapped his fingers around her wrist, pulling the hand tight against his chest. "To live, alone and lonely for the rest of my days." She folded her hand into a fist, tried to pull her arm unsuccessfully away from him. "And you want me to be rational?" The last was said on a hiss, dangerous, snakelike. She leaned in close to him, her eyes narrowed, her face just inches from his. "Is that what you're saying… Jack?"

She stopped breathing for a moment. They were close, so close. His hot breath was on her face, his eyes boring into hers, his body still. They stayed like that for a time, not daring to say another word, not daring to move. And then…two small moves and it was all over.

His eyes flitted downward, just a tiny bit.

Subconsciously, she licked her lips, suddenly realizing they were dry and chapped despite the pouring rain.

It was all it took.

She was never sure who moved first, who closed the distance between them in that moment. All thoughts were gone as his lips descended onto hers, rough, hard, a kiss perhaps even more desperate than the last they had shared. She matched his dangerous passion, gasping as he moved his lips over hers, allowing his tongue access when he demanded it. Still grasping her wrist, though without any force, he wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her body tight against his. She went with him easily, not even aware of anything outside the amazing brutality of that kiss. Her mind was being devoured little by little as he nibbled at her bottom lip then drew it in to run his tongue across it.

She was falling, losing all ability to control her body and she swayed against him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to steady herself.

And just like that, it was over. Jack pulled himself back from her, ended the kiss as forcibly as it had started. They tore apart from each other, breathing heavily as they stepped back slightly.

"Maybe not." The words were whispered and she had to lean in to hear them.

* * *

 

_Oh bloody hell_. Gibbs stepped out of the protection of the trees just in time to see the pair he had left behind break apart. He could see by the heavy way they were breathing and the bruised look of Elizabeth's lips, that the some of the anger he knew was housed in each had finally boiled over. It didn't entirely surprise him that it had resulted in a kind of brutal passion. There was something in the proud way they carried themselves, in the set of the shoulders and the darkness in their eyes that marked them out as two very similar people. He had always thought it strange that Elizabeth had set her sights on young Mr. Turner. He was the milk sop to her fire, the law-abiding land lubber to freedom-loving pirate. She and Jack…they would be formidable together.

He stepped back into the shelter of the palm trees. He didn't want to just walk out there, disrupt everything, and put an end to whatever they were currently working out.

* * *

 

Elizabeth had walked away. She had turned, retreated, unsure of herself, half horrified at what had just occurred. This time there were no hands reaching out to stop her, no sudden forced turning. Jack had let her go.

She retreated to her shelter, the secret little hideaway she had refused, for some unknown reason, to share with her companions. There, she curled up on the little bed she had made out of palm fronds and sand, and sank into her own thoughts. Sammy, who had followed silently behind her the whole way, who had been keeping a curious eye on the proceedings, licked her cheek once and settled down next to her, warming her cold body with his.

Sleep overcame her, despite her intentions of only remaining a short while, of making sure her "home" was not detected. She awoke some time later, instantly recognizing that the rain was over and that the sun, now breaking through the clouds, was starting to heat up the air once more.

She looked at Sammy, still asleep at her side, and smiled faintly. "I suppose we should get back," she said quietly. Sammy's head rose and turned to eye her, his head tilting with his curious gaze. They arose almost as one, each stretching, one incredibly worried about so many things, the other carefree and happy, tongue lolling out of a big grin.

Stepping out of her shelter, she stretched once more, covering her mouth as she yawned. She started at a movement somewhere off to her left and discovered Jack sitting there, calmly watching her.

"So this is where you've stayed all these years." The words were quiet and Elizabeth grimaced, not quite ready to face him yet.


	10. Chapter 9

** Chapter 9 **

Elizabeth had managed to get Jack to move away from her shelter without too much difficulty. He had seemed to recognize that she was not in a good frame of mind and had bowed slightly, before walking back to the beach. She had followed him slowly, picking her way through the undergrowth and staying lost in her own thoughts.

She was still reeling from what had happened between them, still cursing herself for allowing things to go that far out of control. She was married. Yes, to someone she hadn't seen in three years, someone who had been with her for only one night and part of a day, and then disappeared beneath the ocean. She had vowed to stay constant to him. It was in the clause, the one loophole around his spending eternity as the captain of the _Flying Dutchman_. Stay constant to him through those ten years and Calypso would have no choice but to free him from his duties.

She knew this and yet she had still allowed Jack to kiss her. No, if she were to be wholly true to the situation, she would have to admit to herself that she had wanted it to happen. She could not blame Jack in this one. She was as complicit in this as he was.

She had caught up to Jack and Gibbs on the beach just as she saw Gibbs lean in close to hear something Jack said. The older man turned and looked at her briefly and she was surprised to see a look that could only be described as _guilt_ written on his face. Her eyebrows raised briefly and she jogged lightly to catch up with the two men.

"So tomorrow…"

"Yes tomorrow." Jack cut her off.

"Really? We'll try this that soon?" She could not contain her excitement as her eyes flitted back and forth between the two men.

Jack nodded. "If the weather holds."

"These systems rarely blow in," Elizabeth answered. "Usually when we get rain here, it's for a short while and we don't see it again for at least a few weeks, sometimes even a few months." Her words were a stark reminder of how much time she had spent on the island. She was surprised to see Jack wince slightly. Was it possible he was feeling some sort of remorse for what he had done to her? No…she didn't see how that was possible.

"We had best turn in early this evening," Jack said, as if they hadn't always turned in early. There was little of any sort of excitement on the island, no evening entertainment to speak of. The three would tell stories and talk, try to reminisce about the good times, but they would quickly tire of that and once the sun went down and the air cooled off, all three would gladly sink into oblivion. Their dreams afforded them the only chance they had to get off the island and all three usually preferred living in those little worlds over the reality of their situation.

Jack offered to fetch dinner again and disappeared down the beach somewhere. Elizabeth and Gibbs, with little left to do but wait for him, sat down to wait, a silence descending over them as they both remained lost in their own thoughts.

Jack returned some time later and Gibbs sighed and reached up his hand without looking to grab his coconut, one of the last he would ever eat, he hoped. He was surprised to feel his hand come into contact with something slightly wet, cold, and definitely _not_ a coconut. He looked at what he held in his hand at the same time Elizabeth gasped with delight.

Fish.

Jack had somehow managed to catch fish for their dinner this time, hopefully the last dinner they ate on this tiny little island. It was a fitting end and as they all set about frying and then eating the little fish, they all sent a little prayer, a little positive energy toward their makeshift raft.

* * *

 

The next morning dawned clear, if a little bit cool. Jack awoke the others before dawn, knowing they would need as much daylight as they could have for this journey. They weren't sure how fast the raft would move. Their oars, such as they were, had been fashioned from pieces of sturdy bark and twigs. When they had tried them out, just wading a few feet into the water and using it to push water around, and later to throw water at each other, they had seemed to work decently enough. But whether or not they would work when there were three people and a handful of coconuts sitting atop a heavy log raft was yet to be determined.

The all got up, ate their coconuts quickly, and gathered up everything they could. This was it. The sun was just starting to come up over the horizon, spreading out its brilliant yellow-orange light. The water was calm, the slight breeze blowing tiny ripples in the surface. After the miserable weather of the day before, it was certainly a welcome change.

"This is going to take all of us, love." Elizabeth started at Jack's quiet voice coming from so near here and turned to see him nodding toward the raft. She had been lost in thought, one hand on Sammy's rough head, staring out over the beach and the island that had been her home for so long.

"I'm sorry, Jack." She headed to the raft and took up her position to help get the thing into the water.

Jack stared at her quizzically for a few moments, not sure if her apology was for not paying attention, for the kiss the day before, or for something else. He shrugged, knowing that the questions forming in his mind would have to wait for another day, hopefully one which would involve their being in a different place entirely.

"We all ready?" Jack took up position at the front left corner of the raft, Gibbs to his right, and Elizabeth at the back where she was to push as they pulled. "Let's see if this thing can float!" On the count of three, they all moved as one, pushing and pulling the raft over the sand and into the water. As the back end of it splashed into the water, Elizabeth let go, holding her breath, waiting to see if it would float. It listed precariously and she almost shouted in dismay. But then it righted itself and with Jack and Gibbs holding their corners, the raft stayed afloat.

"We did it!" Elizabeth shouted and plunged into the water after the men, hugging first Gibbs and then Jack. The latter held onto her for just a moment longer than she would have expected, pulled her closer than she had thought he would. She felt his lips along her neck for just a moment before he released her, grinning.

She started to open her mouth to admonish him for his forwardness, felt the blush creeping up her cheeks, but then realized she was too elated to even think about anger, much less express it. This was the moment, the moment she had waited so many years for. She was about to head back out on the sea, albeit in a tiny raft instead of a graceful ship.

"Up we go!" Jack shouted. Elizabeth retreated to the beach briefly to collect the last three coconuts they had procured. They would have to last the three of them through the day, just a little bit at a time. She watched as Jack slid onto the raft, causing it to buck wildly. He ended up back in the water, clothes and hair completely soaked. She giggled.

Jack turned to glare at her, though as she walked closer to the shoreline, she could see the humour behind his eyes, the way the corners crinkled up despite his attempt at looking angry. She realized why his gaze looked so odd. The kohl lining his eyes was all but gone, washed away in the rain and the water he had just emerged from. He looked younger and a bit less dangerous. "You find this funny, Miss Swann?"

"Oh not at all, Mr. Sparrow." She tried to retain a serious look, failing miserably as she felt the laughter bubble up again. Jack's grin split wide open and his laugh echoed hers.

"Oh for the love of Pete!" Gibbs exclaimed.

"Who's Pete?" both Elizabeth and Jack shot back at him, causing more laughter between the two.

"Let's get on the bloody raft already and get the hell off this island." He steadied the raft and indicated to Jack to get on. "Elizabeth, help me hold this thing."

She sobered almost immediately, setting the coconuts down at the shoreline and rushing into the water to help with the raft. Gibbs and Elizabeth managed to steady it enough so that Jack managed to get up on it with little difficulty this time. It swayed slightly, but held under his weight, only sinking into the water a half inch or so. "It's holding," Elizabeth whispered.

"Of course it is," Jack sniffed, sounding offended. "I'm…"

"Captain Jack Sparrow." Both Elizabeth and Gibbs groaned his typical response and Jack tried to swat at them, rocking the raft slightly as he leaned forward with the attempt.

"You're next, Gibbs." Jack scooted into the center of the raft, and lay down crosswise. Getting Gibbs onto the raft with only one person balancing it would make it difficult. "Get up on one side. Elizabeth, do your best to steady the other side and stop it from tilting up too much. Try to keep it in the water."

In the end, she ended up pushing her whole upper body up on the raft, letting her weight counterbalance Gibbs' much heavier weight. Jack had scooted over slightly toward her side to balance the raft out and finally Gibbs crawled aboard. The raft sank another inch into the water, but was still afloat. The three let out another small cheer.

"This is it," Jack said, sitting up on the raft and turning to look at Elizabeth. "Are you ready?"

She gathered up the coconuts and their makeshift oars, took one last glance at the beach she had spent countless hours on, and stepped back into the water. "Yes. I'm ready." She called to Sammy, knowing she couldn't leave her companion of the past two years to fend for himself on the island. The dog, used to many swims in the sea water, followed her in, swimming easily as soon as his paws couldn't reach the sand anymore.

The men scrambled to opposite ends of the raft, each sitting lotus style and balancing themselves with hands spread wide, gripping the outer logs, leaving the middle open for her to climb onto. Even though their weights weren't equal, they balanced the raft rather well. Elizabeth handed the coconuts and oars to them and then plucked Sammy out of the water. She handed him to Jack, who gave her a slightly annoyed look before gripping the dog lightly and holding him in his lap. She then heaved herself quickly and easily onto the raft. It barely rocked with the weight of the two men holding it down. She was much lighter, especially after her ordeal on the island, and she barely caused the raft to sink at all. It was staying afloat, even with three people, one dog, three coconuts, and six oars upon it. It was staying lashed together, even though it had been so shoddily and quickly made.

The trio turned and faced the same direction, away from the island, facing toward a new horizon, facing toward Shipwreck Cove. For a moment, none of them moved, all feeling the motion of the sea beneath them, the same longing for freedom and excitement coursing through them all. Jack was the first to move, turning to first meet Elizabeth's eyes and then Gibbs' at the rear.

"Ready?" Elizabeth asked. Three pairs of oars hit the water at nearly the same time. She supposed that meant that they were.


	11. Chapter 10

** Chapter 10 **

Sometime in the mid-morning, Sammy had begun to whine and Elizabeth had been forced to hold him, to keep him from jumping into the sea. She wasn't sure what would happen to him if he succeeded in getting loose from her.

"Seems he has the same longing the rest of us do," Jack had said, offering the dog a small smile for the first time.

Elizabeth had held the whining dog tighter, continuing to stare out to sea.

For the past few hours, they had taken turns rowing the boat, two on the oars and one taking a break. They had gone far enough that the island they had been stranded on had disappeared into the horizon, but not quite far enough that they could yet see Shipwreck Cove.

Jack continually stared at the sun, marking their position on some internal map, correcting their course when it was needed. He was an ace navigator, even without a ship, a sextant, or a map. He also managed to keep their spirits up, chatting amiably, telling stories about his days as captain of the _Black Pearl_. Elizabeth was never sure what was true, what was half-truth, and what might be totally made up, but it didn't matter right now. Each story passed a little bit of time and made the others smile.

So far the raft had been floating without too much difficulty. Using their makeshift oars was not easy, however, and each stroke took them only a few feet. It was tiring work and by the time they took a short break in the early afternoon to eat a little bit of coconut, their arms ached and they were dripping with sweat.

"I stink," Elizabeth exclaimed. "You know it's gotten bad when you can smell yourself."

"We all stink," Jack replied, with a smile.

Elizabeth conceded the point silently, shrugging her shoulders. She handed her knife to Jack, who sliced into one of the three coconuts, handing half to Elizabeth and grabbing a handful of it before offering the rest of his to Gibbs.

"I can't eat this whole half myself." Elizabeth tried to shove it back at Jack, hoping to get him to take a little bit more. He didn't however and indicated the dog in her arms with a nod.

"Why Jack!" she exclaimed, her lips curling into a smile. "You're a softie!" She reached into the coconut and offered a little bit to Sammy, beginning to laugh at the tickling feeling of the dog's tongue on her hand.

"I just don't want to listen to that dog whine anymore." The tone of his voice belied the words he spoke and Elizabeth knew he wasn't telling the truth.

"Of course, Jack." She finished off what she could of the coconut and set the bowl on the raft, allowing Sammy to eat his fill. When they were both done and the dog and curled up by her side, sated, she tossed the empty shell into the sea, watching as it floated out and away from them. Gibbs followed suit shortly thereafter, sighing as yet another coconut-filled lunch was finished.

Elizabeth stretched. "I could use a nap."

"That, love, is not going to be possible until we get his thing up on a beach somewhere."

"And _that_ is not going to happen until we get this thing moving again," Gibbs pointed out.

With a sigh, all three picked up their oars and plunged them back into the sea.

* * *

 

Elizabeth hissed in pain suddenly, the oar slipping from her right hand. She almost lost it into the sea, and might have, if Gibbs had not been quick enough to lean forward and grab it before it left her grasp.

Jack shifted position slightly and turned to look at her, the question in his eyes evident.

"Cramp," Elizabeth said through gritted teeth, setting her remaining oar down on her lap and reaching up with one hand to massage her upper arm.

Jack pulled his oars from the water and carefully turned around to face her. "Where does it hurt the most?" She grasped the middle part of her right upper arm, feeling the tense muscle bunch beneath her grip.

Jack scooted forward, careful not to overbalance the raft and reached out with both hands to lightly massage the area. She winced slightly and he gave her a rueful grin. Whenever a muscle cramped up like hers did, even touching it would cause pain, but the only way through it, the only way to make it better, was to massage it. Otherwise the tightness would continue and only get worse through disuse. Muscle cramps were a strange thing.

As Jack's fingers dug painfully into her upper arm, she could feel the muscle start to relax, the pain lessening. He finally let go and while the muscle continued to ache, the pain was not as sharp as before.

Jack turned back around, grasped his oars once more. "Rest it for a little while. Gibbs and I will row for now." It meant one less person helping to propel the heavy raft, but at least they were still continuing forward. Little by little, they made their way closer to their destination.

Elizabeth realized nothing had ever been said about _what_ would happen once they reached there. It was evident that Jack would procure a ship in order to go after Barbossa and the _Pearl_. Gibbs, dedicated old man that he was, would likely accompany Jack on the venture. They would need a crew, of course, and would easily be able to find one amongst the pirates at the Cove. Many would love to sail with the great Captain Jack Sparrow they had heard so many stories about.

But what of her? Jack hadn't given her any indication that he would like her to join him for his next adventure. Gibbs hadn't spoken of it either, even though she knew the two had been referencing the lost _Pearl_ and Barbossa's needing to be "taught a lesson."

The question she really had to ask herself was what _she_ wanted to do once they reached the Cove. She had had that question floating around in her head ever since Jack had come up with a plan to get them off the island. She still had no answer.

* * *

 

"And the guards shouted…"

"Sammy!" Elizabeth's frantic voice interrupted Jack's story..

"No, Miss Swann, they did _not_ shout Sammy." Jack's voice sounded annoyed.

"No, Jack, _Sammy_." She pointed next to the raft. The dog, tired of sitting on the raft, longing for his freedom, had finally managed to work his way free from Elizabeth's arms and had dove into the water. He paddled lightly next to the raft, a happy grin on his face.

"He looks fine, Miss Elizabeth." Gibbs didn't seem to too worried about the dog. "We can pull him back in when he gets tired."

"Get him back on here _now_." Jack's voice was pitched low and sounded oddly dangerous. Elizabeth turned to look at him, confused about the strange tone in his voice. " _Now!_ " Jack shouted.

Elizabeth, not being able to do anything but obey that crazed command, turned to reach over the raft to grab Sammy and haul him back up. A distinct fin was closing in on the dog, little else seen of the great sea creature. She froze. Sharks. There were sharks there, surrounding them, and her precious companion was swimming unconcerned just feet away from the what little the raft offered.

"No," Jack said and pulled her back. "You can't save him now." The shark had zeroed in on Sammy, circling, moving close, and then with one great heave, attacked. Blood pooled around the little dog, though his head was oddly still above water. In the midst of the attack he had been pushed up against the raft and without thinking, Elizabeth disentangled herself from Jack and reached out to grab the dog. She succeeded at plucking him out of the water, utterly horrified at what she saw. One leg was almost entirely missing, cut off just below his belly, muscle, bone and tissue exposed. Blood was pouring out of the gory wound and Elizabeth shouted.

"Oh Sammy…no…not you too!" He was all she had left. That was all she could think of as she started tearing at her pants, ripping a large piece off and wrapping it around the dog's wound, pulling it as tight as she could. It wasn't enough. It didn't cover it completely. So another, and then yet one more were torn off and wrapped tight around the wound. Though the makeshift bandage didn't completely stop the bleeding, it had slowed it considerably as it soaked into the cloth tied around it.

"He's going to go into shock," Jack said, sadly eyeing the dog he couldn't imagine would live beyond this.

"He's going to _live_ ," Elizabeth insisted. "He has to. He's all I have left. Don't you see?" She was crazed with her grief, tears coursing down her cheeks.

Jack had little he could say to that, knew that insisting she had him and she had Gibbs would not help any. "Hold him tight, keep him warm. It's all you can do now until we reach the Cove and can find a doctor to stitch him up."

She nodded and held the dog close to her body, suddenly frightened. She loved the sea, but it housed some truly alarming things, things that could injure or kill someone you loved in the space of mere moments.

"We need to be careful," Gibbs said, nodding toward the sea. The shark was still there and now more had joined him. Gibbs counted at least three as they moved around, maybe four.

"Oars in!" Jack shouted. "Slowly." Both pairs of oars that were still in the water slid noiselessly back onto the raft. They did not go unnoticed by their unfriendly visitors, however. One shark swam near the raft and jumped out of the water, teeth snapping viciously. He did not come back with anything more than a snoutful of air, but it was enough to cause the trio on the raft to stop breathing for a moment.

They floated silently, each staring out into the sea, watching as the sharks circled, occasionally snapping at them. Each was careful not to move much, not to flinch. If they overbalanced the raft and plunged themselves all into the sea, it would be over. The sharks would attack and Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirate King Elizabeth Swann, and dedicated First Mate Joshamee Gibbs would meet a rather inglorious fate.


	12. Chapter 11

** Chapter 11 **

It was all over before it had even begun. The sharks disappeared once more into the water and they did not resurface. "They're gone?" Elizabeth dared to ask.

Jack nodded. "It appears so."

They didn't dare move, all three staring into the sea in various states of confusion.

Elizabeth was the first to tear her gaze away from the water and look out further to sea. What she saw there amazed her. "Ship," she said quietly.

"What?" Jack asked, not sure if he heard the word right.

"Ship!" she shouted, pointing. They had been so distracted by the sharks and their subsequent disappearance that they hadn't noticed the ship appearing on the horizon. "Do you recognize it?"

Jack shook his head. "Not yet. It's still too far away." But it did explain the sudden disappearance of the sharks.

"Do we row away from it or toward it?" Elizabeth asked, recognizing that the ship might be a cause for alarm, that it could be even more dangerous than the sharks-infested waters they were floating in.

"Toward it," Jack said quietly.

"Are you crazy?" Gibbs asked, the words coming out in a rush. "That could very well be a navy ship or some sort of merchant ship that would be very pleased at hauling in a catch such as us."

"It's not a navy ship," Jack said, squinting at it. "Merchant ship it could be, but this close to Shipwreck Cove? I'd guess they're some of our brethren."

Elizabeth turned to look at Gibbs and saw him shrug. She knew what he was thinking. _What Jack says goes._

"We do have an injured member of our party." Jack turned to look at Elizabeth and then down at the dog, his eyes strangely lit with compassion.

"You surprise me time and time again, Jack."

"Am I truly that horrible?" The tone of his voice was clearly offended.

"That's not what I meant," she snapped back. "It's just..well…you're a pirate. Remember the code? Anyone who falls behind…"

"…stays behind, " he finished for her. "But he didn't fall behind. He's still with us. And he deserves to get medical attention." With that, he plunged his oars back into the water and started to move them in the direction of the quickly approaching ship.

Gibbs sighed. He couldn't wait to get off this raft and have time away from the other two and their incessant bickering.

Elizabeth shrugged, realizing the conversation was over.

They all rowed together, each lost in their own thoughts, each incredibly worried as they got closer to the as yet unknown ship.

* * *

 

As they neared the ship, they could start to hear the commotion on it, start to hear the roar going up as those on watch noticed the trio on the raft. "Men overboard!" the shouts started and more people came to the railing to look out at them.

They were close enough now that they could see the faces on the ship, all rough men with dirt smeared on faces, hands, and clothes.

"Definitely _not_ navy," Jack muttered.

"I think I recognize a couple of 'em," Gibbs responded with.

"Excellent." Jack said, a satisfied grin on his face.

"O' course, that could be from me days as a merchant sailor."

Jack winced. _Bugger_. He had forgotten that Gibbs had not been born into the life of a pirate and had, indeed, spent many years as a good honest sailor before bad times and even worse luck had overtaken the man and sent him into an entirely different "career."

"What the bleedin' hell are ye all starin' at?" The voice, harsh and strident, came from somewhere over the railing. The trio down below could not see the speaker, but Elizabeth saw Jack's shoulders tense up as soon as he heard it.

"Jack?" Elizabeth's voice was pitched low, knowing damn well that Jack knew the speaker. This definitely wasn't looking good for them.

"Men overboard, Captain." One of the men who was staring over the railing said in way of explanation.

The captain's head appeared over the railing, to join the men in eying the trio on the raft.

Gibbs' face broke out in a huge grin. "Anamaria! Why it's good to see ye, girl."

"That's _captain_ to ye, Mr. Gibbs." The words were spoken with a clear smile behind them, a fondness she felt for the old pirate obvious.

Jack, however, turned away from her, cursing softly.

"Jack Sparrow!" Anamaria's voice called sharply down to him.

"That's _Captain_ Jack…" He turned around to squint up at the woman on the ship.

"Oh aye, I'm most sorry, _Captain_. I didn't see yer little ship there, mate!" The sarcasm was evident and the men on the ship laughed wholeheartedly at the words.

"No time for this, love," Jack called up to her. "We have an injured party on my…ship. He needs medical attention right away. Send down a sling to carry him up."

"Mr. Gibbs looks fine to me," Anamaria said. Even from this distance she could tell the former first mate of the _Pearl_ was hale and hearty.

"Not him. _Him._ " He pointed to Elizabeth and Anamaria seemed to notice the woman for the first time.

"Elizabeth?" she questioned and watched the woman, who looked far too frail to have been venturing out with Jack and Gibbs, nod. Anamaria was confused for a moment, trying to figure out what other "he" Jack was referring to when she finally saw the creature cradled in Elizabeth's arms. "A dog? We ain't takin' no dog on board this ship."

Jack saw the frantic look in Elizabeth's eyes and knew there was no way they could leave the dog behind to become shark food. He closed his eyes briefly before saying some rather fateful words. "Then we continue on our own way."

"No…Jack…are ye crazy?" Gibbs asked. "This is our chance to get on a real ship, get to sleep on a hammock, get passage _somewhere_. And yer goin' to throw it all away fer a _dog_."

Elizabeth frowned at him.

"Aye, Jack! Are ye daft? We're headin' to Shipwreck Cove. We can drop ye off there!" Anamaria threw a line down to the trio. Gibbs grabbed it and the men above helped pull the raft tight up against the ship.

"Not without the dog," he growled back at her.

Elizabeth watched as Anamaria threw up her arms and walked away from the rail, quickly disappearing out of her view. She saw their chances for rescue disappear with her. And even worse, she saw the chances for Sammy's survival disappearing. They had wasted too much time here and they likely wouldn't make it to the Cove before dark now. Sammy couldn't possibly live that long. The only thing she could do was beg and hope that the captain of this particular ship would take pity on her plight.

"Anamaria!" she called and suddenly stood up in the middle of the raft. It rocked precariously, threatening to toss them all into the water. Jack and Gibbs managed to keep it steady.

"What the bleedin' hell are you doing?" Jack spoke sharply and was rewarded with an equally sharp look from the woman in question.

"I'm saving our bleedin' necks." There was little for him to say to that and so he shrugged, waiting for what would happen next.

"Have it your way," he muttered under his breath. Elizabeth pretended not to hear him.

Anamaria appeared over the rail, looking down at the raft once more. She said nothing, however, and so Elizabeth was forced to continue without having any idea if she would really listen to her or not. "Anamaria, I have been nearly alone for many years, living on an island far from humanity. There was no one to talk to, no one to play with, and then Sammy, this wonderful dog appeared out of nowhere to ease my burden of loneliness. He has been with me for nearly three years, my faithful companion and helpmate. And now, when I finally have the chance to leave this island, to return to the land of humanity, my beloved companion was injured, attacked by sharks. He will die without quick medical attention." She cradled him tightly to her chest. "He only needs to be stitched up, have his wound cauterized and disinfected. After that, you can toss him and I back on this raft and we will continue on our journey. I only ask…no, beg…that you take pity on us and aid my companion."

It was a fine, pretty speech. Jack was impressed at the simple emotions of it and he reached up to grasp her hand and squeeze it lightly. Elizabeth looked down at him, surprised, and squeezed his hand back before moving it back to help support her burden.

"Aye," Anamaria said quietly. The one word spoke volumes about the pirate woman's compassion. "The dog comes up. We'll take care of him, Miss Elizabeth. And I'll not return ye to yer raft." She turned away and, as she did so, raised one hand. The men moved into motion.

A sling was tossed down to them and Elizabeth placed Sammy gently in it. The men, aware of the precious burden, lifted the dog slowly up onto the deck of the ship. Elizabeth followed quickly, scrambling up the ladder that had been tossed down. She disappeared from the rail, following after her beloved pet.

Gibbs went next, climbing up after her, and Jack watched as the men who knew him clapped him on the back and took him off with them, no doubt to pursue the wonderful pursuits of rum and storytelling, something Jack was looking very much forward to.

Jack stood and reached for the ladder, surprised to see it suddenly pulled from his reach. He glanced upwards and gave a questioning look to the men above him.

"Sorry, Mr. Sparrow. The cap'n said ye weren't allowed on her ship yet. Ye can hang onto that rope and ye'll continue to be pulled alongside us."

Jack cursed under his breath. Leave it to Anamaria to let him be pulled into the Cove on a raft. He had once stolen her boat and while, clearly, she had done well for herself since, she still seemed to have a sore spot for that little incident.

Sighing, he sat down on the raft, gripping the rope that was keeping him tied to the ship. It was bound to be a long afternoon without even the company of Elizabeth and Gibbs. This was just typical. He had been a good man, yet again, insisting that they all be allowed on, including Elizabeth's dog. And how did he get repaid? By being left behind on the raft. Granted, Elizabeth didn't know yet. No doubt she was off with the surgeon discussing the dog's treatment and chances for survival. He wondered what she would think when she discovered Jack was still on the raft.


	13. Chapter 12

** Chapter 12 **

"That's all I can do for him right now, Miss." The surgeon, a young man named Higgins, brushed back a lock of sandy hair and faced Elizabeth.

She and Sammy had been escorted to his makeshift infirmary in the hold as soon as they had landed on the deck. It had been hard to relinquish her dog to the man and even more difficult to watch as he peeled the cotton strips away from the wound. Sammy had yelped as he worked on clearing the wound and had finally passed out. It was much easier at that point, knowing the dog felt little pain.

Now the surgery was over, the skin around the missing leg stitched together and whisky poured into the wound to sterilize it.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" She sounded like a worried mother, she realized, and the thought sobered her for a moment. _I'll always be a mother_. Her son was gone, long before he should have been, but his memory would always be with her. And maybe someday she would be able to share those memories with someone else, share them with someone who meant something to her and would wholly understand her loss. _Jack_. His name crossed her mind for a moment, though she didn't really know why. Jack would never be able to understand the loss a parent felt when their child, their _only_ child left them at such a young age. Jack had no children that she knew of. He had never mentioned any, though she allowed for the possibility that he did have children, somewhere, that even _he_ did not know about. She felt a little laughter bubble to her lips.

"Miss?" The voice of the doctor suddenly came back to her and she blinked before focusing on him.

"I'm sorry…" She let her voice lift just slightly at the end, a question that was not quite a question.

"Are you alright?" The tone of his voice marked him as clearly concerned. The last thing she wanted right now was to deal with some random pirate surgeon trying to play doctor. Her body was not in need of mending. It was her heart and her mind that needed healing, something that could only happen through time. She guessed her heart would never entirely heal. A little portion of it had been ripped away and the hole would always remain.

"Yes. Yes I'm fine. Thank you." She paused, took a deep breath. "And Sammy?"

"Well, miss, as I was saying, it's going to be touch and go for a little while. I've stitched him up right well, but only time will tell." Time…again.

"Will he…" She had a hard time voicing the question that came into her mind. Her little companion had loved careening down the beach, racing into the water, fetching sticks and coconut shells. Anything she threw into the sea, he ran after and unless it went far beyond him, he brought it back. She had once thrown her coconut shells into the sea and watched them float away, but once Sammy had joined her, she always found them returned to her with a happy smile and a wagging tail. "Will he walk?" She finally got the words out and met Higgins' eyes. Worry was written into every line of her face.

He smiled gently. "Have ye ever seen a three-legged dog before?" She shook her head. "He'll be fine, Miss. Won't even know the leg's gone. As soon as he's well, he'll be up and running and playing like any other dog. The only one that will notice his leg bein' gone will be you."

She felt the relief course through her.

"He's resting now, miss. If ye'd like to, go above deck and get some fresh air. I'll come fetch ye if'n he wakes up."

"Thank you." She smiled gratefully and left the hold, making her way through the belly of the ship to the stairs that led up.

* * *

 

"Where's Jack?" She had been wandering somewhat aimlessly around the ship, looking for either Gibbs or Jack. She had seen neither of them, though she had heard Gibbs voice coming from somewhere down below deck, raising to her in a story that she could hear only snippets of.

Jack was nowhere to be seen. The man she asked hooked his thumb over his shoulder without offering any real answer to her question. She followed the direction she indicated, coming upon a group of pirates working in the hot sun, shirts stripped off, barefoot, scrubbing the deck.

They turned as one when they heard her approach and quickly scrambled up, bowing. She raised one eyebrow at their actions, but then heard one of them mutter as he smacked the one man who was slow to rise and even slower to bow. "She's the _king_."

She smiled, realizing the oddity of it all. She had been stranded for years on an island, but her mere presence still demanded the respect of pirates everywhere. "Where is Jack?" she asked once again.

One of them leaned toward the rail and pointed down. She gasped. "Overboard?"

"No sir…ma'am. He's alright, ma'am. The captain…she jist din't want him up on the ship yet." The man was stammering, bowing, clearly nervous. Of what, she wasn't sure. Her reaction to the news, the thought that she might ask them to go against the captain's orders? Either way, she didn't care. Pushing past them all, she strode to the rail and looked down.

Jack looked up at her, his face stony. "Well, well, Miss Swann, it's about time you remembered, good ol' Jack, wasting away down on this God-forsaken raft."

"I didn't know, Jack. I was rushed off to help take care of Sammy." She was not happy with this. Anamaria had once been Jack's friend and it was clear that the one incident where he had absconded with her boat and then sunk it in Port Royal's harbor had soured her on the captain.

"How is he?" His voice had softened slightly.

"I don't know yet. He lived through the surgery. He's unconscious. As the surgeon says, only time will tell." She watched Jack nod. He continued to stare silently at her.

"Jack?"

"Well?"

They spoke at the same time and Elizabeth conceded to Jack, allowing him to finish. "Are you going to get me off this raft or do I have to spend the night down here, worried about sharks, and generally uncomfortable?"

"Oh!" she gasped. She turned to the men still standing at attention nearby. All wore the same nervous look. "Well, you heard the man. Drop the ladder!"

They didn't move, and one ventured to say, "But the captain…"

Elizabeth drew herself up to her full height and tried to look down at them, though she was shorter than most of them by at least a few inches. "Need I remind you that I am your king?"

Apparently not. The men jumped into action, untying the ladder and throwing it down to Jack. She heard him let out a little cheer as it came into his line of vision. Before she could blink, Jack had scrambled up the ladder and over the rail to land lightly next to her. The look he gave her was still accusatory.

"I didn't know Jack."

He sneered and started to walk off. She stopped him with one hand on his arm.

"Where's Gibbs?" she asked, hoping her voice conveyed the meaning behind the words.

The look on Jack's face made it obvious he understood her all too well.

* * *

 

She had returned to the hold several times to check on Sammy, each time meeting the surgeon's head shake. He had not awakened and while his condition had not worsened, he was no better than right after the surgery. She had spent a little bit of time with her faithful companion each time, petting his still form and speaking to him as if he could hear her. She knew the surgeon was humoring her need to talk to the dog as if he were human, but she didn't mind. The man wouldn't understand how he had been one of her only companions of the past few years and how he had been the one to offer her the comfort of his silent presence when she had had to say a final farewell to her beloved son.

She had been standing at the railing, enjoying a bit of fresh air and time away from the enclosed space of the infirmary. The motion of the ship was wonderful beneath her feet and she watched in awe as the sun set out on the horizon in amazing shades of red and orange. There Jack found her, coming over quietly to stand beside her, adopting the same stance of leaning on the railing and gazing out into the ocean. "I found Gibbs." It was an odd way to start a conversation, but it was safe and Elizabeth appreciated that. She wasn't ready to talk about anything much more difficult than that.

"Where was he?" she asked.

"In the mess hall…drunk." She could hear both annoyance and amusement in his voice.

"I'm sorry." She tore her gaze away from the ocean and turned to look at him, trying to ignore the fact that he was standing far too close to her.

"Don't be. I fell behind." He too turned to look at her and their gazes locked. One of his hands moved, reached out a little, came within a hair's breadth of touching her cheek, before he seemed to remember himself and stopped the motion. He moved his hand back to the rail.

"How is the dog?" he asked.

Elizabeth dropped her gaze from his. "Sammy? There's no change in him. He's still unconscious."

Jack nodded. "Give it time, love. I've seen plenty of men recover from such a thing."

She remained silent, hoping that he was right. She noticed he didn't talk of the men who had likely _not_ recovered from such a thing. There had no doubt been many, but she didn't want to know. She didn't want to ask what chances he thought Sammy had. She would remain in the dark about this one until either Sammy recovered or she was forced to send another beloved one to the sea.

At the thought of the latter, one tear fell from her eye, making a track partway down her cheek. Without thinking much about what he was doing, Jack reached out a finger and caught it, wiping the track away.

Elizabeth gasped at the contact and once more her eyes collided with his, only then noting that the kohl around his eyes had returned. Once again, he looked like the proud captain she had come to know so well. Only this time, the look in his eyes was soft and strangely unreadable.

He removed his finger from her cheek, never once looking away from her eyes, and brought his hand down to her shoulder, letting it rest there for a brief moment before returning it to his side. He leaned closer to her, his lips within just an inch or two. Their eyes remained locked.

Elizabeth forgot to breathe. Her lips opened slightly. Her eyes widened.

Jack did not move a muscle and together, they seemed frozen in time, every sound around them diminishing to a hush.

Elizabeth blinked.

Jack seemed to come back to himself. Leaning forward, he brushed her cheek softly with his lips before retreating from the uncomfortable closeness. "You should go to bed, love."

His voice was rough and had a strange note in it. Elizabeth stepped away from him slightly, dropped her gaze to his feet. "I…" Her voice came out in a croak and she stopped speaking before she made a complete fool of herself.

Jack reached out with both hands and grasped her shoulders lightly. "They've put up a hammock in the infirmary for you. You can keep an eye on Sammy all night." It had been the first time he'd referred to the dog by his name and something about that warmed her. She leaned forward, wrapped Jack in hug that lasted only moments, just barely enough for his arms to come around her in response.

"Thank you."

And then she was gone, disappearing across the deck and down the stairs, leaving Jack alone with his thoughts.


	14. Chapter 13

** Chapter 13 **

Their trip through the Devil's Throat that led to Shipwreck Cove had been as uneventful as they could have hoped. That is _not_ to say that it had been easy or boring or…well, anything except a trying time. There was a reason they had been named as such: all ships that wanted to get to Shipwreck Cove had to pass through the Devil's Throat, a narrow passageway surrounded by sharp reefs. Ships that went through the passageway too quickly went with the risk of running aground on one of the reefs. Many did such a thing each year, tearing open their bellies and quickly sinking them. The pirates would salvage what was left of the hulls, adding their bulk to the island and claiming anything it had carried as their own. Shipwreck Cove was, perhaps, the most unique place Elizabeth had ever seen. The island, such as it was, was entirely made up of these shipwrecks, put together one wreck at a time.

Anamaria had not navigated this particular stretch of water before and Jack, worried about the state they might arrive in, had pushed aside the helmsman and not allowed anyone else to come near it while he shouted orders to a crew not his own.

Anamaria had been upset and had gone on a tirade, shouting at the men, calling them all sorts of names, and stalking back and forth across the deck of the ship. At one point, she passed Elizabeth, muttering something that sounded remarkably like a curse laid on Jack's head.

"He's the only one who can do it." Elizabeth spoke quietly, knowing full well the impact of those words would halt Anamaria in her tracks and force her to come back to her.

"What did you say?" The darker woman's words were accompanied by narrowed eyes. She pushed her floppy hat back and glared at Elizabeth.

"You know it's true." Elizabeth raised her chin higher, daring the other woman to challenge her. Jack had a special talent, an understanding with the sea that few could parallel. Anamaria was a good sailor and a good captain. Elizabeth had seen that well enough in the last day. She had an easy grace at the wheel, a good rapport with the men on her ship, and respect. The latter was the most important, for without it, a captain was nothing. But she was not Jack and she lacked Jack's sharp-honed instincts.

Anamaria leaned forward, fire radiating from her eyes. Elizabeth matched her. And then Anamaria had backed down, the reality of the situation bearing down her. Had Jack not appeared, this particular stretch of water might have meant the end of her ship, if not her crew. She didn't like admitting it to herself. She was a competent captain. Jack was brilliant, a genius at the helm, as daft a man she had ever met, yet everyone who met him wanted to follow him. Even she had at one point, before he had stolen her boat and then destroyed it.

They had arrived at the other side, close enough now to Shipwreck Cove to see the great spires rising out of the water. Jack had turned over the helm to Anamaria once they were through. Elizabeth had watched him bow sardonically to the other woman before retreating. He immediately walked to Elizabeth's side, a smile upon his face.

"You love doing that, don't you?"

His satisfied grin said all it needed to. He didn't just love it. He lived for it. "Of course," he had answered anyway. "The feel of the ship as it turns under your hands, the pull of the waves and the wind, feeling it fight against you as you pull it under control. _That_ is freedom."

Elizabeth reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. She hadn't seen Jack this relaxed since…well, she barely remembered the last time she had seen Jack this relaxed, this happy. Perhaps the last time had been when they were marooned on that island together, careening around the fire, singing loudly and crazily.

For a brief moment, Jack reached a hand up and covered Elizabeth's. It was a moment of completely companionable silence between them.

It was interrupted by the arrival of the surgeon. His face, always so grave, was showing evidence of a smile. "He's awake, Miss." Elizabeth let out a small gasp and gripped Jack's hand tightly, turning to look at him.

"Go, love." He let go of her. "Go see him. We'll be at the Cove soon and we'll want to move him off this ship." She smiled, a great brilliant smile, and headed off.

_Strange_ , Jack thought, a rueful grin upon his face. That brilliant smile did something odd to him.

* * *

 

Elizabeth bent low over her companion before looking at Higgins. "He doesn't seem well." She had rushed down into the hold, only to find Sammy still laying on his side, still looking thin and motionless. When she had bent over him, she was happy to see him raise his head slightly and offer her a tentative lick on the cheek.

He was alive. And yet he looked so tired, so drained of energy. He didn't attempt to get up and it ate away at her heart. "Infection?" she asked, the dreaded reality of what Sammy could go through from here on out.

"Not so far, Miss." The surgeon drew himself up to his lanky height and showed a little bit of smugness. "I'm a good surgeon."

"I never once doubted your abilities, Mr. Higgins. But I also know what these kinds of injuries can do to a person…or an animal."

The man nodded. "Well, he's awake and while I'm certain he's in some pain, he appears to be doing well."

"Can we move him?" Jack had said they would be leaving the ship as soon as it docked. She wasn't sure where they were going from there, if indeed there was even a "they" going anywhere, but she knew it was nearly time to depart from this particular ship.

"We'll give him a little something to knock him out. It will be easier to move him if he's not in any pain. But yes, you'll be able to move him after we dock."

She nodded and left the hold, heading back above to see the final docking and find out what would happen when they disembarked from the ship.

Jack stood at the bow of the ship, watching carefully as it came into port and docked. The men around him went into action, tying down the sails, lowering the anchor, and fastening the ship to the dock. It was a careful procedure, but one that was done with such exact precision that it was obvious the men had done this many times before.

"So what now?" Gibbs came up quietly behind Jack, joining him in his quiet vigil. Jack glanced at him briefly before staring back at the island.

"We leave the ship. Find our own. Pursue the _Pearl_." Simple. It was a simple and unadulterated plan. And it was obviously not what Gibbs meant when he had asked the question.

"You know what I meant." Gibbs' voice was exasperated. He knew Jack's original plan. Get to Shipwreck Cove, leave Elizabeth there, and continue on on their own to pursue Barbossa. He still remembered his words from just a couple weeks ago. _If she is on that island…I will not be held responsible for what I do to her._ So far he hadn't done a damn thing except argue with the chit. Their exchanges of barbs had been legendary back when they had all spent time on the _Pearl_ together. Bets had gone 'round the ship as to when all the passion they had put into fighting would finally boil over into a different sort of passion.

Apparently it finally had. At the very end of things, the end of Jack's life, for the first and only time so far, she had kissed _him_. Jack had implied that it was out of a need to distract him in order to chain him to his ship, but Gibbs thought there might be more motive there than just that. Now, again, the passion was obviously high between them. They had been bickering on and off from the moment Gibbs had sent Jack after her. And he was damned sure he had caught them at the tail end of some of that boiled over passion. Ah, if only the old crew were still here. He'd have won that bet he had made with them all so many years ago.

"Ah yes, the infernal Miss Swann. What are we to do with her? Is that what you mean, Mr. Gibbs?" His voice was amused. Gibbs couldn't have even guessed at the reason why.

"Aye, Cap'n."

Jack turned and looked at him and Gibbs was surprised at the bright look in his eyes. "I don't know."

Only one thing went through Gibbs' mind in that moment. _This does not bode well_ …

* * *

 

The disembarking went quickly and easily. Once the ship was docked, Anamaria dismissed those men who were not guarding the ship and they departed with cheers and whoops. Shore leave at Shipwreck Cove meant no fear from the authorities, a chance to see family and friends who resided there. It was bound to be a wonderful time for all, full of drinking and laughter and…other things. Elizabeth knew from past experiences that the men would come crawling back some time after dawn, heads in varying stages of fuzziness. They would regret it the next day, no doubt, but for now it was a cause for celebration. They had successfully docked in the Cove.

Anamaria, watching her crew depart with an amused grin, made her way over to the trio who remained.

"They'll have a good time tonight," Elizabeth said to the other woman. "You're a good captain."

Anamaria let out a bark of laughter. "Tell that to the men left on board." She hooked a thumb over her shoulder and Elizabeth eyed the somber men with a small look of pity on her face.

"They're new. They have to learn."

"Aye." Both women fell silent. The men standing nearby had little to say in that moment as well.

"Well, " Jack suddenly said, his voice unnaturally bright. "It looks like it's time for us to take our leave. Thank you for everything!" He walked behind Gibbs and Elizabeth, placing one hand on the back of each and started to move them toward the plank that had been put down for going ashore.

"Sparrow!" Anamaria shouted. He dropped his hands from the others' shoulders as if he had been burned and twirled around lightly on his feet.

"Anamaria…" he started to say, hands held up in surrender.

"You got us safely here." The implication was obvious in the rough sound of her voice. "Thank you." Elizabeth could clearly hear how much she hated to say those words.

Jack nodded. "Of course I did. I'm…"

Anamaria interrupted him. "Don't say it Jack, just don't say it."

He didn't. "You're welcome," was all he said.

Anamaria, having said her peace, departed from the ship. The trio, with Elizabeth holding an unconscious Sammy in her arms, followed slowly.


	15. Chapter 14

** Chapter 14 **

Elizabeth had been following Jack further into the city, as amazed this time by the sites as she was the first time she had been here. Muttered words and shocked looks greeted them everywhere they went. Elizabeth tried to hear what they were saying, stepping away from the group and moving closer to the small hordes of people lining each side of the street.

As she stepped close to one group, an older man reached out and grabbed her arm. She nearly dropped the dog in surprise before allowing herself to be pulled away from Jack and Gibbs. "I know you," the strange old man said, his eyes dark and unreadable as he looked her closely in the eye.

"You do?" Elizabeth whispered as the man started pulling her further away from the center of the road, further into the horde surrounding him. The people moved to encircle her one young woman touching her hair, another reaching out to pet the unconscious dog in her arms, yet another gripping her sleeve and pulling on it. There were so many different people, some just staring, some whispering, some shouting. She couldn't make one word out among all the others and she looked from person to person, confused.

They dragged her further back into the throng, spun her around several times as different people wanted to get a look at her. She realized she had lost sight of her companions. Jack and Gibbs had been slightly ahead of her and when the old man had pulled her back, they had continued forward. She wasn't even sure if they had noticed she was not with them anymore.

A hand reached through the group surrounding her, gripping her upper arm tightly. She yelped as the person started to drag her sideways. She fought against it and the hand dug even harder into her arm, pulled her harder. She looked down at the hand, breathing a sigh of relief as she recognized the tattoo of a bird taking flight. A sparrow. Jack had somehow found her. She went willingly then and the hand relaxed slightly, though it still held her tightly.

Finally she was clear of the group and her eyes, wild with panic, met Jack's kohl-lined ones. He let go of her arm and opened his mouth to speak. Elizabeth didn't give him a chance to. She immediately stepped close to him, wrapping one arm around him for a moment. It was an awkward embrace, made all the more awkward by the dog in her arms and Jack's hesitancy.

"Don't do that again," Jack whispered harshly against her ear before turning away from her and continuing in the direction they had been going in. She wasn't entirely sure what he was referring to. "Keep close," he said over his shoulder. And she did exactly that, sticking so close to Jack that when he stopped suddenly, she ran right into him.

"Sorry," she muttered when he turned around to give her an annoyed glance. "You said to keep close!" She was indignant.

"Indeed I did." He smiled then, a quick flash of gold, and then turned to continue.

"What happened to Gibbs?" she suddenly thought to ask. She could see no sign of the older pirate.

"Up ahead. He continued on while I went back to rescue you." The word "again" was implied in there somewhere.

"Oh." Somehow she always ended up having to be rescued by Jack. He had done it so many times that she had completely lost track of the number of times. "Where are we going, Jack?"

"To a place I never thought I'd want to stay at again." The words were quiet and yet amused.

"And that would be?" Something in his tone of voice made her wish she could take the question back. Did she really want to know?

"Home, love. Home."

* * *

 

_Home_. The word surprised her for some reason. She looked around her with new eyes. This was where Jack had grown up? This amazingly dirty city full of odd characters and frightening people? She saw the occasional young boy or girl running through the streets, playing as all children did, but she couldn't imagine what it would actually be like. She had grown up in mansions, surrounded by the elite, wearing dresses and having her hair done by maids. Jack had once been one of these waifs, these dirty little urchins who she watched with such sadness.

Jack didn't catch her look and she was glad of it. Somehow she knew the proud captain wouldn't want to see even a moment of pity from her.

She wondered where his home in this remarkable maze of dirt roads was, as she had gathered he meant some place specific, rather than just the city in general.

The remainder of their journey was both short-lived and uneventful. It had felt like Jack had been weaving in and out of narrow alleyways and down several wide paths thronged with people almost randomly. Just as they would reach what was likely a major road on the island, Jack would herd her down another alley, reaching another road, which led to yet another alley. She was still hesitant around the people they met, though she still felt oddly as if she and her companion were some sort of bugs that the inhabitants of the island were studying. She was relieved that no others approached her during the remainder of the journey.

They finally caught up to Gibbs in a deserted alleyway. "Ah, there ye be, Cap'n."

"And where did ye expect me to be, Mr. Gibbs? Indeed, I am always where I am. And so, since you see me here in this alley, I am actually right where I should be."

Elizabeth could almost see Gibbs' eyes crossing as he tried to figure out what Jack had just said. Instead, he just muttered, "Aye" and let the moment pass.

_Probably a good idea…_

Elizabeth eyed the area they found him in, looking away in horror at the trash and human waste lying about. They were not in one of the best parts of the town, if a town such as this _had_ "best parts." She shuddered as the smell of the place finally hit her.

"We're almost there, Miss Elizabeth," Gibbs said sympathetically.

"Indeed," Jack responded. "And I don't want to be stuck in this hellhole of an alleyway any longer than the rest of you lot do." Jack ducked out of the alley, clearly an indication that they should follow.

Gibbs bowed slightly and indicated to Elizabeth to step out first, which she did gratefully. She preferred having one of them men in front of her and one to guard her back. She once was able to take care of herself and perhaps she still would be able to, if she had access to any sort of weapon.

Coming back out into the sun, Elizabeth blinked for a moment and found herself surprised at what she saw. Not more than a hundred or so feet from where she stood there was the greatest squalor, people living on the sides of the road, drunk and lost to the world. And yet here it was like being transported to a whole different place. The hulls of ships could be seen everywhere, turned upside down and sideways to form the roofs and walls and floors of an amazing city of wrecks. She had seen this sort of crazed construction from the outside, but from the inside it was amazingly beautiful. Each hull, in varying shades of browns and blacks had been cleaned of barnacles, washed, and burnished until they shined. Windows had been cut into them and she reached out to touch one, amazed that someone on this island had the ability to create such beautiful clear and curved glass.

When she finally tore her gaze away from the sights, she found Jack watching her with a bemused expression. "Welcome to Shipwreck City, love."

"I don't remember seeing _this_ the last time I was here."

"You didn't." The smile didn't leave his face. "That was the oldest section of the Cove, the place where the original Brethren Court met so many years ago, long before you, or I, or even _Gibbs_ was born."

Elizabeth turned to see Gibbs give Jack a look. "Incorrigible." The amused tone of his voice belied the look he gave the younger man. Elizabeth was always amazed at the way the two men interacted. They always made her think of brothers or maybe even of father and son. Yes..father and son. That seemed to fit the situation. Gibbs always seemed to be the one person who had the patience to simply accept Jack as he was. She had watched numerous times as he came between his slightly daft captain and an angry crew. He was Jack's protector in a way, and his defender. The interesting aspect to it all was that Jack was simply too proud, and a bit too arrogant, to accept help from anyone, yet Gibbs managed to pull the whole thing off with a balancing act worthy of the circus that had once come through Port Royal.

Jack smiled at Gibbs. "Always," he said, a smug grin on his face.

"Come on then," Gibbs said in response, clapping Jack on the back and pushing him slightly forward. "Let's get there and get this mess o'er with."

"Jack?" Elizabeth turned to look at him, realizing suddenly that he had frozen in place and had a strange look upon his face. His eyes looked slightly wider than normal, the eyebrows slightly higher and yet pulled down in the middle at the same time. His mouth was set, turned downwards in what could vaguely be called a frown. One graceful hand was absent-mindedly fingering the beads that tied up the ends of his beard. What made it even odder was that he seemed to not even have heard his own name, perhaps hadn't even heard Gibbs' words. He looked…lost.

_Not good_ …

Elizabeth turned back to Gibbs. She held out Sammy to him and Gibbs shook his head slightly. "Hold him." Another head shake. "Please?" The desperate look in her eyes must have convinced Gibbs to aid her for without another form of protest, he reached out and took the dog from her arms.

Relieved of her burden, Elizabeth reached over and tugged on Jack's sleeve. He moved willingly with her, eyes still trained out into the city somewhere. She hated returning to that dank alleyway, but it was the only place she could think to take him to at that moment.

"Jack," she said much more sharply than she had intended. It had the desired effect, however, and he suddenly snapped back to reality. "I have _never_ seen the great Captain Jack Sparrow act like this. What on earth is going on?"

His words at first were too quiet for her to hear. When he repeated them, she still wasn't sure she had heard him right.

"Your…Da?" What on earth was the man going on about now?

'"Yes…me father?" And suddenly Elizabeth knew who he was talking about. She remembered a man, some number of years ago at the Brethren Court. He had kept himself apart from the others but when he had been brought forth, just moments before she had been named king, she remembered noting a striking similarity to the good captain…the same dreadlocks, the same tricorn hat, the same odd way of walking. It all suddenly made sense. Jack's hesitancy to come here both times, the strange way he had deferred to the ageless man. "The Keeper of the Code," she said quietly.

"Yes!" Jack nearly shouted.

"I don't understand."

"Bugger."

"Jack." The words went back and forth quickly and then, finally, Jack explained things…without ever quite explaining them.

"You just don't know me father."

"That is _not_ adequate," Elizabeth shot back, starting to get angry.

"Well, it's going to _have_ to be." Jack crossed his arms over his chest.

"Is it now?"

"Yes. Because you are not getting another word of explanation out of me."

"Jack." The word came out low and dangerous.

"Look, Elizabeth." He reached out and grasped her upper arms, leaning closer, his eyes meeting hers in an honest plea. "It's all I _can_ say. You don't know him, love. You don't know what he's like, what he's done, _who_ he is."

She nodded, looking deep into his dark eyes, trying to find a hint that he was lying, that anything he said was something but the absolute truth. She cocked her head to the side and studied him for a moment. "You're telling the truth." It was not a question. It was a statement.

Jack sighed and let her go, clearly relieved. For a moment, a strange look came over his face. "Where's Sammy?"

She smiled. "With Gibbs."

He looked somewhat horrified. "Don't you fear for his life?" And with that, he reached out a hand to her. She was surprised at the light contact as she placed her hand in his. "We should go, love. As much as I'm not looking forward to this, we should go rescue your pet from Gibb's clutches and head off."

* * *

 

They found Gibbs sitting near where they left him and both stopped suddenly, neither exactly sure what to think or say. He was seated in a lotus position, Sammy next to him, lying on his side. Gibbs was talking softly, so softly that neither Elizabeth nor Jack could make out what he was saying, but it appeared that he was telling the dog about the city for he was pointing at varying things as he spoke.

The dog, who Elizabeth thought at first was still asleep from the effects of the laudanum, suddenly moved his head and touched his nose to Gibbs cheek as the man leaned over him.

Elizabeth could feel Jack shaking next to her and she tried her hardest to stop him from moving forward when she realized that the laughing man was going to approach Gibbs. This would be embarrassing for the older man. She grabbed onto Jack's arm, but he easily shrugged her off, apparently looking rather forward to this one.

He squatted down next to Gibbs and she watched the older man give him a rather sheepish grin. She walked over, kneeling down on Gibb's other side and reaching out a hand to Sammy. The dog gave her what she could only describe as a happy grin. He would be well. She knew this for certain now. She looked up at both Jack and Gibbs and smiled.

"Get up here, Jacky." The voice that came to them was sardonic and terribly amused. It was deep, gravelly, and strangely seductive. Elizabeth looked up, Gibbs looked away, and Jack quickly leapt to his feet.

His voice came out in a near squeak. "Father. 'Tis good to see you." Elizabeth and Gibbs, both realizing this was a momentous occasion, got to their feet as well, Elizabeth gracefully standing and helping the older man to do so as well.


	16. Chapter 15

** Chapter 15 **

Teague Sparrow, Keeper of the Code, was not a foolish man. Nor was he unobservant or quiet about such observances. His son had appeared suddenly, the woman who had been named Pirate King in tow. She was clearly malnourished and the dark circles under her eyes spoke of countless inner pains. He hadn't seen nor heard much about Jack since the defeat of the East India Trading Company some years ago. Jack had, as was his wont, disappeared without saying another word to him. His exploits, so legendary among those who lived in Tortuga and other famous ports known to the pirates, rarely reached his ears.

He never came to his father for help, not even in the most dire of circumstances. His being here meant something was not quite right. And that, to be perfectly honest, worried the old man.

Jack stood at his father's command, not quite able to meet the man's eyes. He looked down at first Elizabeth, then Gibbs, then even the dog. He hated feeling like this, as if he were still eight years old and had done something terribly wrong. Of course, now that he was indeed _not_ eight years old, if his father even _dared_ to treat him as he once did, he would get the sharp end of his sword.

It was strange how the memories he tried so hard to forget always came flooding back as soon as he was near the man…the anger, the way he took out every frustration on him, especially after his mother had left…

Elizabeth stood suddenly, realizing the men hadn't spoken one word in some time. Teague was staring at his son, an odd look upon his craggy face. Jack was looking everywhere but at his father. She sighed. She had been right. This was not a good thing.

Jack's eyes finally alighted on her and he smiled a falsely bright smile. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her forward slightly, finally managing to shove her, unwillingly, out in front of him. "Father!" he said brightly, that same grin plastered on his face. "You remember Captain Swann." He patted her on the back.

Teague's dark eyes switched to her and she found herself frozen to the spot, strangely affected by the man's unreadable eyes. He nodded at her briefly before looking back to Jack. "I thought it was Turner now."

For some reason she couldn't quite define, Elizabeth felt the words held more significance than they should have. "Yes," she answered, pulling his attention back to her once more. She felt a strange need to protect Jack, though she didn't entirely know why. Maybe it was the tone of voice he had used when talking about his father, maybe it was the fact that he was always _her_ rescuer. Maybe sometime he would actually need some sort of rescuing from her.

She tried not to think back to the one time she, and the others, _had_ actually rescued him. The ultimate rescue, really, bringing a man back from death. She had ultimately been the one to send him there, but she had also been one of the people who had orchestrated his rescue. She paused in her reminiscing when she suddenly noticed Jack's father staring at her. "What?" she asked.

The man said nothing, just turned around and walked away. Elizabeth, alarmed, looked to Jack. Her eyebrows rose slightly in question and she waved a hand, indicating the direction the man had taken.

"It means we follow him." Jack's voice was quiet and somewhat contemplative.

Elizabeth shrugged and started to move to follow Jack's father. She was stopped, however, by a light touch on her upper arm. Turning back, she met Jack's eyes.

"Watch out for that one." He said no more and turned to follow his father. Elizabeth and Gibbs exchanged a worried look before following him.

* * *

 

Elizabeth had been sitting in the room alone ever since Jack had escorted her there. After entering the house through one of the many polished hulls, Teague had waved them away and Jack, seeming to know exactly what he wanted, had led her to this room. It wasn't a terribly large room, but nor was it exactly small. It was oddly shaped as all rooms in the makeshift houses on the island were. The beautifully preserved ships were painted a slightly off-white colour on the inside. The one and only window looked out over a small section of the sea that led only a few feet away to yet another windowed hull. They were packed in tight in Shipwreck City, the pirates who lived here clearly affluent, but understanding there was no way to build such a crazy maze of abodes without building them close together.

She was wondering how they had come up with the idea to build such an island when the door suddenly burst open. She turned around with a gasp, shocked that someone would even consider just barging in on her in such a way. "Jack!" The word came out rushed and somewhat more high-pitched than she expected. The man was standing in the doorway with a grin upon his face. She glared at him. "Don't you _ever_ do that." She sounded like a mother berating a young child than a…well, whatever she was to Jack.

He moved further into the room without saying a sound, shutting the door behind him.

"Jack, what are you doing? Open that door!" She was frantic now, realizing she was suddenly alone in a room with the enigmatic captain. "This is improper." The words she spoke came out sharper than she intended and with a little bit of desperation behind them.

He laughed, a strange hollow sound. "Since when does Elizabeth Swann, Pirate King, worry about what is proper?" He moved toward her in an odd way, almost cat-like, and Elizabeth suddenly felt like the man was stalking her. Finally, he was standing in front of her and he moved close to her, bending her slightly backward as he kept leaning further and further forward.

Elizabeth was suddenly all too aware that she was standing with her legs backed up against the bed. "Jack, what are you doing?" His face swam into her vision, his eyes near her own, too near. She backed up a bit further finally collapsing and finding herself seated upon the bed. _Bugger_. She could almost hear Jack's voice in her head saying the word. It ultimately seemed to be the most appropriate for the moment.

"Elizabeth," he breathed and was suddenly on his knees in front of her, his head tilting up to look at her. She found she was shocked at the dark, empty look in his eyes.

"I need to feel, Elizabeth." The words were fervent, rushed. "Please…help me feel."

_Oh God, what is going on?_ This was not Jack, not the Jack she knew, not the Jack she respected, not even the Jack she liked. This was…someone else entirely.

He reached one hand down to her exposed calf and Elizabeth found herself gasping at the sudden contact. She brought up a hand to stop him, but found herself frozen as she watched the progression of that rough hand. He had more access to the area than she perhaps would have liked. There were strips taken out of the bottom of both pant legs, leaving the ends ragged and lower leg exposed nearly to the knee. She hadn't thought much about it before, but now? Now she found she couldn't even think. Not that she particularly _wanted_ to think in that moment.

He ran his hand up her calf, slowly, ever so slowly, not taking his gaze away from what he was doing. Light tingles went up her spine at the almost painfully slow exploration. His rough hand against the smoothness of her leg was a strange contrast, one that she enjoyed more than she knew she should, one she tried not to think about too much as he continued on with his ministrations.

His other hand came up to join the one already on her one calf, mirroring the motions on the other one. She should stop him. She really should stop him. Instead, she felt a soft sound escape her lips, one that sounded a bit more like a sound of pleasure than the word "stop" would have indicated. She couldn't get the word out, didn't know if she _wanted_ him to stop what he was doing.

That one sound seemed to push him forward and his hands, both doing identical motions on each calf, rose a little bit higher, making circles across her calves and then soon circling around her knees, feeling the bumpy texture of the knobby knees she had always been somewhat embarrassed about. She pushed that thought from her mind and concentrated on not thinking. _Yes. Don't think. Breathe. Just be._ Her eyes shut, the sensations overwhelming all senses.

His hands moved up just slightly above the knee, still making those maddening circles, one after another after another. The constant motion was driving her crazy. Sliding his thumbs up onto her legs, he pressed in gently, pushing her thighs apart slightly. His hands continued their motion upward incrementally, sliding across her silken skin and pushing her thighs just a little bit further with each move upward.

It was when he reached her upper thighs, pressing her legs wide apart, that Elizabeth started coming back to herself. She was fully exposed to him, wearing nothing underneath the dark cotton pants. A strange sort of moisture was pooling somewhere near Jack's hand and she realized she was trying to breathe, trying to sort things out in her mind, trying to do something.

And then Jack's hand brushed lightly against her, one finger coming into contact with the skin surrounding that wet heat. Her eyes flew open and she suddenly jumped back with a cry.

Pulling her legs tight up against her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and stared at Jack. Words wouldn't come to her at that moment. She had acted so brazen, so utterly whorish. She was a married woman, a woman who had bourne her husband's child, a mother who had just buried that very child in the sea that had claimed her husband as well. And yet here she was, playing the part of Jack Sparrow's whore.

Jack's hands fell heavily to the bed in the wake of Elizabeth's sudden departure. He stared up at her for a moment, his eyes entirely unreadable, dark, remote. And then he stood, swaying oddly as his knees seemed to give out, and then, pulling himself back up, he strode from the room. No words were spoken by either of them. The moment was as oddly silent as the strange moments before it.

The door shut quietly behind him and Elizabeth, still unsure of exactly what had just happened, fell to her side when she heard the click. Curled into the fetal position, she stared straight ahead, eyes blank, face frozen into a sort of shocked state. _What the hell had just happened?_


	17. Chapter 16

** Chapter 16 **

It took Elizabeth some time to finally leave the room. She had spent an indeterminable amount of time curled up on the bed, trying to push all sorts of crazy thoughts from her head. They swirled around inside of her and left her reeling and confused. Jack had just not been _Jack_ when he had come into her room. His eyes had been hooded and there was a darkness there that she had not seen before.

No. She was wrong there. She had seen it just once. When they had found Jack in Davy Jones' Locker, he had had that look in his eyes, a look that said he had been to hell and back and it had changed him, left a mark on his soul. That darkness was worrying. When Elizabeth had first met Jack, she had had a sense of danger, but more than that she had noticed, quite oddly, that the famous pirate had a very light and untroubled soul. Laughter had come easily to him, witty repartee had been his forte. It had made him a very charming and likeable man. She supposed that was why she had always been drawn to him in some way, even before she had met him. His name had appeared frequently in the stories about pirates she had read and each time it did, she greedily devoured the story, almost immediately committing it to memory.

It was strange and a little bit heady to realize that she had just been sitting, uninhibited, exposed in a number of ways, involved in some sort of physical intimacy with the piratical idol of her childhood. What would her dear father think of such things?

_Father is gone._ It had been years, but she still missed him dearly, often wished she could go to him for his counsel. The thought both pained her and made laugh internally at the same time. Going to her prim and proper father, the Governor of Port Royal, with her thoughts and worries about betraying her marriage to one pirate, the immortal captain of the _Flying Dutchman_ , with one of the most infamous pirates ever known? No. That would not be possible, even if her father were still alive. He would have dragged her back to England without any further thought and despite any arguments from his daughter.

Her life had changed and drastically so. Just six years ago, she had been the prim and proper daughter of the prim and proper Governor, living a life of corsets and proposals of high-ranking Navy men. Now she was a pirate.

With that thought, she had finally stepped from the room, heading out to seek Jack or his father or even Gibbs. She could find no evidence of the men in the house, despite the fact that she was sure she had taken every turn. It seemed like a vast place, though it was hard to tell both from the outside and now from the inside. Near the place where they came in, she found Sammy asleep on a rug that seemed to be specifically placed there for the little dog.

She bent down, pleased that Sammy made the effort to sit up for her. It was strange seeing him with just the one leg up front, but he seemed to be in an ever-lessening amount of pain. "I guess 'shake' won't be in your vocabulary anymore." She laughed as the dog attempted to lift his one front leg up, collapsing onto his side in the process. He gave her what could only been termed as an amused look before sitting back up. The lack of the leg didn't seem to bother him much.

She reached out a hand and scratched behind his ear, finally sitting next to the dog. It was quiet in the house, a sort of peacefulness she was really enjoying. She still hadn't quite grown accustomed to the noisiness of pirate ships. At night, the people of her home on Port Royal had all gone to bed and the silence was conducive to a good night's rest. She had gotten used to the silence again while on the island. It would take some time to get used to the noise on a ship…that is, if Jack would allow her to travel with him in his attempt to regain the _Pearl_ once more.

"He's been hurt recently." She looked up to see Teague Sparrow staring down at her. She gave him a questioning look, wondering if he were referring to the dog or to his son. Teague waved at the dog and Elizabeth felt somewhat relieved. She didn't want to talk about Jack.

"Yes," she answered. "A shark." It was not a moment she wanted to relive.

"He'll be fine," Teague said by way of answer. The two fell silent again.

Elizabeth felt terribly awkward. Teague did not sit down in any of the chairs nearby, nor did he sit on the ground near her, rather the strange old pirate stood above her and looked down at her from there.

"Did you want something?" she finally asked. A simple enough question, that, but something she feared the answer to. The man was clearly even more of an enigma than his son was.

He continued to stare at her for a moment before finally saying, "Jack left." And he turned to walk away.

"Jack left?" Elizabeth repeated the words, scrambling to her feet. He just…left. Just like that. She knew she had pushed him away, stopped him from going places he seemed to want to go with her body. He couldn't have expected she would just fall into bed with him, even though, if she would allow herself to completely admit the truth, she would have to admit that she had very nearly done just that.

"Wait…" She rushed after the man, trying to stop him.

"He'll be back." Teague disappeared around the corner, Elizabeth not far behind. She stopped short. The man was gone. Just like that…gone. She stepped further into the room he had disappeared in, looking for another door or a way to get out of there and saw none. An enigma…definitely an enigma.

* * *

 

"What went on back there, Jack?" Gibbs was trailing after the younger man, trying to keep up with his quick pace and knowing he was getting hopelessly lost as Jack weaved through various alleyways.

Jack turned to look at him without stopping his long strides. The look said more than any words could have. His eyes were dark, almost back. If Gibbs had to pick one word to describe them, "frozen" would be it. The look he gave him, in just those few moments, nearly stopped him in his tracks.

"This has to do with Teague?"

Jack continued walking, never faltering in the quick pace, not turning to Gibbs, not saying anything to him. Gibbs threw another shot out in the dark. "No…This has to do with Elizabeth, doesn't it?"

Jack suddenly stopped and Gibbs overshot him by a few steps, finally coming to a halt as the other man rounded on him. "You're overstepping your bounds, Mr. Gibbs."

And Gibbs knew he was right. When they had arrived at Teague's oddly shaped house, the old pirate had insisted on talking to his son alone. Jack had escorted Elizabeth to a room where she could take a nap and Gibbs had been left standing awkwardly in the hallway. He had finally found a small living area and settled into a chair to doze off as well.

Some time later, he was never sure _how_ much time, Jack had emerged from the room, his face cold, devoid of all emotions, eyes dark and a little bit wild. Gibbs had stood up, intending to intercept his friend, but Jack had just walked past him as if he were entirely invisible. Following him, Gibbs had watched as he threw the door open to the room Elizabeth had been left in and strode inside, shutting the door behind him. The click seemed to echo infinitely in the strange house.

It was when Jack had left Elizabeth's room that the man had looked so frighteningly out of control and yet tightly wound at the same time. Immediately, he had left the house and Gibbs, not entirely sure what he was to do, had followed. He couldn't admit it to himself, but he was worried about the captain.

"This _does_ have to do with Elizabeth." The words were said somewhat quietly, almost a musing to himself. But it was certain Jack had heard them for his eyes lit with a cold fire. Before Gibbs could draw another breath, the tip of Jack's sword was pointing into his chest. "Bloody hell, Jack, what are ye doin'?" he roared.

Jack continued to stare at him, the tip of his sword never wavering, just poking into Gibb's chest. Not daring to move, Gibbs carefully met the other man's eyes, tilting his head slightly to the side in the hopes that Jack would recognize who he was and what he seemed determined to do. "Jack." The word was a plea. He was sure his old friend didn't even recognize him in that moment. His eyes were staring hard into his, so much anger housed there that Gibbs wasn't sure anyone could bring him back from this moment. _By Jesus, what did that girl_ do _to him?_


	18. Chapter 17

** Chapter 17 **

_He was lost somewhere in a sea of black. It surrounded him, a sort of haze that couldn't be seen, nor felt. His eyes were open but did not see. His ears were free but did not hear. The silence was almost deafening after the incredible sounds from moments before, the snapping of something so loud that his whole body had vibrated with it._

_He was lost._

_He knew he was lost. But if he could just somehow see through the darkness, find some sort of light far beyond it, he might find out where he was._

_Darkness._

_Black. Inky. Yet without either substance or taste, sound or feel. It was everywhere and yet nowhere. What a decidedly odd sensation._

_He wondered who he was, how he had gotten here, what he had done to deserve such a severe punishment. There were vague memories flitting just out of reach, those little pin pricks of recognition that he didn't quite have the presence of mind to wholly grasp. He reached out a hand to try to grab one, haul one in like a fish in a net. Fish…net…another memory was almost there._

_He looked down at his hand._

_It was not there._

_How was that possible? For a hand that he could sense, that felt attached, was not there. Nothing was there. The blackness seemed to extend to himself. He would have widened his eyes at the possibility, but did he have eyes? He wasn't sure anymore._

_He was here._

_Yet not here._

_Where was here?_

_He wracked his brain (did he have a brain)…where was he? Who was he? No…he knew who he was. He was…_

_The words would not come. He tried to open his mouth to speak them, to reassure himself that in the midst of the blackness that was not blackness, he was who he knew he was._

_"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."_

_And then, just as the words were out, the blackness dissipated and he was standing in the middle of its complete opposite. White…stuff…extended everywhere, as far as the eyes could see._

_Eyes!_

_He had eyes._

_And hands. And he could see and feel and…maybe he could hear. Yet there was nothing to hear. His voice was silenced once again. He couldn't get anything out._

_The whiteness around him seemed to shift, to move. He was fast-forwarding through time, the whiteness pushing him somewhere. In the distance, suddenly, it all seemed to change. He could see small forms, gradually getting larger, until he could finally make them out…people._

_There were people in the whiteness._

_No…one person. The others faded away, spread out, seemed to move in the same odd way he was across the whiteness. They were gone._

_The world was spinning crazily._

_And then he was in front of the only other person in this sea of whiteness._

_"Elizabeth?"_

He gasped, suddenly coming out from under whatever strange spell or dream he was in. No…not a dream. A series of memories that were disjointed and yet oddly strong. He awoke with her name on his lips, her form in his inner vision, and a strange feeling that something was incredibly _wrong_.

Recent memories of the woman were as disjointed as the ones in his dream. _Something_ had happened. He remembered being in her room…

Her smooth calf. A gasp of pleasure. The eyes that seemed to bade him continue and then closed.

He had been out of control. He still was.

A sword pointing into a chest. Anger. And finally a collapsing exhaustion that had overtaken him and resulted in his dropping the sword to the ground, and falling to his knees.

God, where _was_ he? He had to wrack his brain for a moment just to remember. When he did, he stood up from the bed he was lying on and strode out the door.

Heaving a big sigh as he stretched, he looked out at the men readying the ship for sailing. The sounds of their scrubbing the deck, rigging up sails, shouting to each other in good-natured insults were all the beautiful sounds of a pirate ship. They were music to his ears because unlike on Anamaria's ship, this was all happening on _his_ ship.

Well, not the ship that was truly his, bound to his soul in a way no human had ever been bound to him. The _Bonny Lass_ was not the _Black Pearl_. But she was a fine ship. The previous captain had only recently departed from earth, having been bested in a pub brawl, and the crew were a little lost and confused.

They were not the crew he would have chosen for himself, had he had a choice. They were somewhat hesitant, a little weak, but they had a ship without a captain, a group of people without a strong and dominant personality who would make a good captain, and an excited willingness to serve under the great Captain Jack Sparrow. The last, particularly, endeared them to him. Any group of people who referred to him, offhandedly, as "the great," was a group of people worth showing how great he truly was.

"Step lively there!" he shouted and watched as a group of the men, hearing their new captain's shout, turned and stood at attention.

"Captain!" Gibbs' voice sounded relieved at his appearance.

"Gibbs." The older man scurried over to Jack's side as Jack waved him over.

"Ah, Cap'n, can you feel it? The tang of the salt sea, the excitement of the next big adventure?" His voice sounded relieved.

Jack did not respond to his question. "Mr. Gibbs," he said again. "Do you think this motley crew we have acquired will be ready to leave tomorrow at dawn?"

Gibbs looked a little hesitant to answer. "Well, I'm not so sure, sir. The crew, well, they're a bit green. It's taking a little bit to get them to really follow orders efficiently. I'm not sure they're quite _ready_ to go back on the sea."

"They were on the sea before," Jack pointed out.

"Well, aye sir, but not under _you_. The last captain, well, he seemed to be _lacking_ a bit."

"Hmm…" Reaching up a hand to finger the beads in his beard, Jack nodded slowly. "Well," he said brightly. "Be sure that they're ready. They'll learn quickly enough once we're out to sea." And he turned away from Gibbs, intent on returning to his new quarters.

"Cap'n?" Gibb's voice was even more hesitant this time.

_Don't turn around…don't turn around…don't turn around._ Jack turned around. _Bugger._ "Yes, Mr. Gibbs?"

"Miss Elizabeth…"

Jack cut him off. "…is no doubt back at my father's abode, having a nice chat with the old man."

"Yes, but…"

"Remember what I told you before, Mr. Gibbs?" Gibbs nodded in response. "My _duty_ , to Miss Swann, such as it was, is now over. I have delivered her off of the island. What more do I owe the woman?"

"Well…"

"Well, _what_ , Mr. Gibbs?" His voice was quiet, pitched low, unemotional.

"Well, Captain?"

"That is _not_ what I meant," he snapped, sounding like a petulant child.

"We did leave her there for three years," he ventured. Jack murmured something Gibbs couldn't quite hear. "What was that sir?"

"I said 'three years, two months, and seventeen days!'" Jack roared before turning away from Gibbs and striding off the ship. He was down the plank and had disappeared into the crowd before Gibbs could even react.

Once he was able to, he smiled. The bloody bastard had been keeping track of it? Well, now that was quite the surprise. He let the captain go, knowing that whatever he was going to do in the next little bit of time was something he needed to do on his own. He just hoped it turned out to be the _right_ thing to do. The ironic thing about that was that Gibbs himself wasn't sure what the right thing to do was. In the end, Elizabeth might be better off without Jack. And Jack might be better off without her. The two had wounded each other, and severely so. There may be no returning to the strange camaraderie Gibbs had always felt the two shared.

Turning around, he saw their new crew watching him. Heaving a sigh at their gross incompetence, he shouted to them. "Git back t' work ye lously landlubbers! The cap'n expects to set sail on the morrow!"

* * *

 

Gibbs always was his conscience, the one man who could give him a look of reproach that he felt all the way down to his toes. He had no idea how that had happened, really. But he knew it was a fact of his life. Things were _easier_ when Gibbs wasn't around. For instance, if Gibbs were still on the _Pearl_ with Barbossa, he could have left the stupid chit at his father's house, or he could have even just left her on the island, building a raft for just himself and making his way off without her. Oh yes. He could have considered himself without duty when it came to her.

Instead, he was walking right back to where he vowed he wouldn't return. To his father. And to Elizabeth. One afternoon with the old pirate had been more than enough for him. The conversation they had had did not actually fix a thing, did not alter anything, long and drawn out though it was. His father was infuriating. There was no hedging around that fact. He was stubborn, enigmatic, and completely maddening. Come to think of it, he was a little bit like Jack himself.

Except that, no, there were many ways the old man wasn't like Jack, ways that Jack hoped he would never ever resembled his father. Like how he always found a way to take advantage of someone's weaker points, or how he could twist words to suit his own agenda. Teague Sparrow was a hard man, unbending, and a little bit frightening. Jack hoped he never ended up like the old man, bitter and alone, living out his days on an island, watching over a Code not many kept to anymore.

He tried to ignore the fact that he seemed to be setting himself on a path very much like his father's. Perhaps fetching Elizabeth, bringing her along on their adventures, would remedy some of that. It was certainly a different fork in the path than the one he had intended to take in this moment.


	19. Chapter 18

** Chapter 18 **

Jack had been gone all afternoon. After his father's disappearance, Elizabeth had settled in on one of the settees in the sitting room. Sammy had gotten up from his rug by the door and hobbled over to lay at her feet. She was pleased to see him attempting to walk. It seemed that both the surgeon and Teague were right. Sammy would be fine.

She spent her time there, alternately scratching behind the dog's ears and dozing off, jumping when she heard the slightest sound. Teague had said Jack would return. She didn't doubt the man was correct. But _when_ would Jack return? His mysterious pronouncement did not include that little detail. Would he return today? Tomorrow? Maybe another three years from now? Would he really abandon her again?

It had been an anxious afternoon and when Jack finally returned, early in the evening, Elizabeth was a bit angry and more than a little worried.

Jack strode into the room as though the place was his own. Upon spying her as she stood suddenly, he walked over to her. "Ah! There you are, Miss Swann!" The words were strangely cheerful.

Elizabeth was left staring, mouth slightly agape.

"What?" he asked, voice sounding defensive.

She wasn't sure how to answer that question. It was as if he were some sort of chameleon, changing colour, and often mood, unbelievably suddenly. Earlier he had been dark, a bit frightening, and completely closed off to her. Now he seemed upbeat, as if all were well in his world. _How utterly_ _bewildering_.

"Well, come on now." He reached out a hand and grasped her wrist, turning and starting to pull her along with him.

Elizabeth quickly snatched her arm back from his grasp, forcing him to stop and turn around. His eyebrows drew down over his eyes and his head tilted to the side slightly. "Is there a problem?"

"Exactly _where_ are we going, Jack?" Trust no longer came easily to her. There was a time, not all that long ago, that she would follow Jack to the ends of the earth without asking any questions. Just as Gibbs and some of his crew were loyal to him to the point of near foolhardiness, she had been too. But those times had ended when she realized he had left her on that island and did not plan to come back to get her.

"To the ship. Pay attention, Lizzie. If you can't keep up, what am I to do with you on board my ship?" He sounded as if he expected her to know this piece of information, as if it were as obvious as the colour of the sky or the taste of the sea.

Elizabeth blinked and shook her head. "What ship, Jack?"

" _My_ ship," he reiterated. "Well, not exactly _my_ ship…"

"You stole it." It was a statement, not a question.

"I did _not_ steal it." She opened her mouth to speak. "I did not even commandeer it. I helped it."

"Helped it? How, Jack?"

He explained to her the sorry state of the ship as he had found it, the death of the captain, the clueless crew who were languishing in port without any idea what to do once news had reached them of their captain's death.

Elizabeth nodded. "Is that really the truth Jack?

He grasped one of her hands and lifted it, almost to his mouth. She could feel his breath across the back of her hand and it made her shiver slightly. She was sure he was going to kiss her hand when he said, "Of course, love."

Instead of kissing her hand, he suddenly grasped it tight in his own and started to head out once more. Elizabeth tightened her own grip and stood her ground. With a sigh, Jack turned around to face her once more.

"Are you asking me to come with you?" And honest question…one that no doubt deserved an honest answer.

"Maybe?" Jack answered. _He_ wasn't even sure exactly what he was doing. Gibbs…the darned man had guilt-tripped him into doing this.

"You don't sound so sure." Elizabeth pulled back from him. If she wasn't wanted on his ship, she wasn't about to allow herself to be trapped on it. She could easily stay in Shipwreck Cove, even if she didn't want to.

Jack heaved a dramatic sigh. "Yes, love. I'm asking you to join us."

Elizabeth smiled, a cold and calculating look if there ever was one. "And what position might I have on this ship of yours, Jack?"

Jack leaned forward, a matching look on his face. He raised and lowered his eyebrows a couple times. Elizabeth shoved him away with a laugh.

"That is _not_ what I meant, Jack Sparrow."

"That is _Captain_ Jack Sparrow to you" he countered with, puffing himself up as he so often did with those words. But then he came back down to earth, leaving just Jack behind. "You can watch over the crew."

"I thought that was the captain's job."

"Yes, well, I'm going to need a lot of help with this one."

"What do you mean?" She couldn't imagine Jack finding anything but the best crew Shipwreck Cove had. She remembered his crew on the _Pearl_ so long ago and how they had all worked together so easily, almost anticipating the others' moves. The silent communication among the group of men had been amazing and an absolute delight to watch.

"You'll just have to see what I mean." The words were cryptic. "Now are you coming or not?"

* * *

 

Elizabeth did indeed follow him back to the ship, relieved that she was to be a part of Jack Sparrow's crew. On their way out of Teague Sparrow's house, just after Jack had departed, Elizabeth turned back for a moment and saw the enigmatic old pirate standing near the settee she had recently vacated. He gave her a slight wave and a wink and she had smiled back before disappearing out of his house.

They had walked slowly back to the ship, not because they were hesitant to return, not because the streets were crowded, not even because they wanted a long stroll. They had walked slowly because Sammy, who seemed to be making a great recovery, had hobbled along next to them, getting used to a gait with only three legs. Elizabeth had been worried about him, but Jack, in his infinite wisdom, had told her not to be and had kept her from picking the three-legged dog up and carrying him back to the ship. By the time they arrived at the ship Jack had procured, Sammy was racing a bit ahead of them, his new gait easy and almost comfortable. Elizabeth smiled as they walked up the plank to their new ship.

"Well, here she is!"

Elizabeth stopped just moments after coming up the plank. The ship was a beautiful one, not quite on par with the _Black Pearl_ , but a sleek sailing vessel nonetheless. Her decks were being scrubbed to perfection by a group of burly men. Down on their knees, they seemed to be paying attention to every little detail. They were, however, the only men who seemed to be organized. The men trying to get the sails back up after repairs had been made to them seemed utterly without a clue as to how to go about doing such a thing. As one pulled left, others pulled right, various men landing on their behinds on the deck. A frazzled looking Gibbs stood near the helm trying to make some sort of order out of the chaos around him. He wasn't having much luck.

Upon noticing Jack and Elizabeth arriving on the ship, Gibbs shouted one more order to the men and then rushed to their sides. "And how are they doing, Mr. Gibbs?" Jack asked, already imagining the answer to that one.

"Not good, sir. Definitely not good." Gibbs shook his head. "They're tryin' their best, but it's slow goin' with this group."

"Will we be ready tomorrow?"

"We're sailing that soon?" Elizabeth asked.

Jack started to speak, but Gibbs interrupted him. "Not bloody likely."

Jack cringed. Elizabeth felt sorry for the proud captain, to be reduced to being in charge of _this_ crew. And Gibbs just sighed again.

* * *

 

It was, in fact, another day and a half before their new ship was seaworthy. Jack had spent most of that time holed up in his cabin, drinking rum, and occasionally appearing near the helm to curse at the incompetent crew.

Gibbs had been named First Mate, thus forcing the former first mate of the vessel to become just another part of the crew. The man went without any argument. In fact, they all did everything without any sort of argument, bowing at each instruction and scrambling to take care of whatever was asked of them, generally screwing it up in the process. Gibbs had begun calling them "a spineless lot," sometimes behind their backs, and often directly to them when he was angry at their mistakes.

Elizabeth had been named Bos'n. She was surprised that Jack had not just simply made her a part of the crew. The strange way he looked at her sometimes, the darkness in his eyes, made her think he would wish to punish her in some way. When she had followed him to his quarters and asked him why he had named her to such a high position as bos'n, he had just laughed and explained that, despite her lack of experience on a ship, she would do better in the position than any of their current crew would.

She did her best to try to keep the crew's morale up and found that, while she was doing a decent enough job at it, her little three-legged companion was really the true bos'n. He followed her everywhere he went, his body still bandaged after the attack, but quickly regaining his footing and endurance. The men adored him, reaching out a hand for a pat whenever the little dog happened close enough to them. It was a strange sight to see, all these tough men, men who life had frequently dealt unfair cards, communicating with a three-legged scruffy little dog they had all nicknamed Tripod.

The first night on the ship, she had drafted anyone who played an instrument and had one on board to play some tunes while the crew dipped into the rum supply and toasted their new captain and the start of another voyage. It had been a nice evening and even she had taken part in the drinking, raising her bottle in multiple toasts. She had been careful to only take a sip each time instead of a large swig off the bottle as the rest of the pirates had done. By the end of the evening, she had only drunk half her bottle. Jack, who she had noticed eying her from across the ship on many occasions throughout the night, his kohl-lined eyes making him stand out from the rest of the crew easily, had stood up from his perch near the helm and had crossed over to her when she finally set the bottle at her side. Holding out a hand, he had silently taken the remainder of the rum and easily finished it off. Grinning, he had finally spoken to her. "I think, Bos'n Elizabeth, that it should be time for us to turn in."

His look had been unreadable and Elizabeth's eyebrows had shot up, clearly uncertain of the meaning of his words. Jack had grinned then. He had held out a hand to her and she took it, allowing him to draw her to her feet. "Do not fear, Lizzie. You have your own cabin on this fine ship." She had almost been able to hear the sigh in his voice. She had disappointed him in some way yet again.

He had led her to a small cabin not far from his own, explained that while it was no bigger than a closet, it would be a comfortable place all her own. Only she, Jack, and Gibbs would have the luxury aboard the ship. The rest of the crew would sleep below in hammocks. She shuddered at the thought of having to spend the night housed with the bunch of untrustworthy pirates they had taken on as crew. The _Pearl_ was a smaller ship than the _Bonny Lass_ and Elizabeth knew from her time on it that it had only two such cabins. She had once slept on the deck of the ship, curling up in the most amazingly uncomfortable positions and sleeping for short periods of time, rather than sleep below with a crew who were all too willing to have her sleep there. She supposed she would be returning to that once they did find and reclaim the _Pearl_.

Her sleep that night had been disturbed by dreams she couldn't quite remember, dreams she was sure she did not actually _want_ to remember. She had awoken the next day as the sun came up, exhausted and aching. The day that followed had been difficult and she had been forced to aid the men in ways a bos'n usually didn't, climbing the rigging and helping to tie knots far above the deck of the ship. She had come down to the deck on more than one occasion to find Jack there, watching with a look that she would have termed as "worried" had it been on the face of any other man.

They had finally finished up sometime in the middle of the afternoon, when the sun was high above them. Heaving a sigh of relief, Elizabeth came to rest next to Gibbs, wiping one sleeve across a sweat-drenched brow. "So that's it then?" She posed the question as she watched the crew collapse almost as one onto the deck.

Jack appeared suddenly, making his way across the deck to Elizabeth and Gibbs. He was the only one still standing, still looking amazingly cool and relaxed in the midst of the sun beating down on them. He picked his way through the maze of crewmen, looking every bit like a priest giving last rites on a battlefield.

"It appears that the crew have readied the ship at long last." The words were accompanied by a rueful grin as he sat next to Elizabeth.

"So we leave now?" Elizabeth asked.

"Hardly," Jack said, still with that same grin. "We'll leave at first light. The crew will need rest tonight. No parties." The last was said with slight admonishment.

"I'm taking my role as bos'n seriously, Jack," Elizabeth responded with, sounding slightly offended. "Trying to keep up their morale and all that."

"And God knows they need it," Gibbs muttered. A whole day of issuing orders that were not fully obeyed, screaming until his voice had gone a little bit hoarse, had left the man feeling worn out and completely frustrated.

"Aye, that they do." Jack sounded nowhere near as frustrated as Gibbs, likely owing to his spending the day far away from the rest of them. "Tomorrow we sail. Gibbs, you need to be ready to take over the helm after we get out of the Devil's Throat. Miss Swann, I need you to keep this crew _quiet_ while we get through dangerous territory." Orders issued, he stood once more.

He drew the crew around him and they came easily despite their exhaustion. They sat around him, looking like awed children awaiting an exciting story. Jack, ever the dramatist, took advantage of it entirely by making a short speech about their impending mission and the difficulties that would arise. He offered any man who wished to stay behind the opportunity to depart immediately. One did, slinking by Jack and the rest of the crew, head down and body posture a clear indication that the man did not belong. The crew's jeers brought admonishment from their new captain. "None of that!" he shouted, the hard sound of his voice bringing the crew immediately under contrite control. "I gave you all the option and one coward took it. That was his prerogative. The boy really has no idea what great things he'll be missing!" The crew broke out in a cheer, raising fists in the air. "Now rest."

And with those words, Jack dismissed everyone. The remainder of the day was to be spent on the ship, relaxing and making sure they all got enough sleep for the harrowing journey the next day.


	20. Chapter 19

** Chapter 19 **

At dawn the next day, Elizabeth was already up and ready to go. She had spent the last little bit of the night standing at the rail of the ship, feeling it move slowly under her feet with the coming tide and watching the sun come up over the horizon.

"Freedom." Jack joined her, nearly whispering the word. She agreed. This was what freedom was.

"Thank you for letting me join you." Elizabeth spoke equally quietly. Speaking any louder would break the spell that had been woven around them.

Jack did not respond and they watched the sun in silence, the magnificently red orb pushing its way slowly over the horizon. The rest of the crew was awakening somewhere behind them, starting to shuffle across the deck, the occasional voice rising up above the others.

Finally the sun had come up far enough that there was an adequate amount of light to see accurately what one was doing. It was still not high enough to make it through the Devil's Throat, but that time would come soon enough. Jack slid away from the rail and immediately he was the captain again, losing the kind of softness that word, _freedom_ , always seemed to evoke in him.

"Get the ship ready!" It was all he needed to say to send everyone into a flurry of activity. Sails were raised, ropes tied and untied as needed. Gibbs darted around the ship, faster than Elizabeth had ever seen the older man move, making sure everything looked good. Elizabeth did nothing more than move silently among the crew, offering a smile, a pat on the back, and the occasional words of encouragement to a crew who seemed to need it so bad.

She honestly couldn't imagine this crew on the high seas managing to plunder _anything_ , but Jack seemed to see, well, _something_ in the motley group of men. She decided to defer to him, as she knew he was much more knowledgeable about such things. Gibbs did question him on occasion, sometimes looking very much like he wanted to ask the younger man about his sanity, but Jack never seemed to get upset with him. He always weighed everything Gibbs said very carefully and more often than not took the man's advice. She wondered if her being on the ship was a direct result of Gibbs' influence over Jack. The old man had always liked her, after all.

"Weigh anchor!" Jack suddenly shouted and Elizabeth looked around, realizing that while she had been so busy tending to the crew's morale, the sun had completely risen and the ship had been readied.

This was it then. They were off to pursue the _Pearl_. Excitement gripped the crew as the anchor slowly rose up and onto the ship. The boat, free of its mooring lines and anchor, began to float out into the harbor with Jack at the helm.

Elizabeth turned to look up at him, happy to note the brilliantly satisfied grin on his face.

* * *

 

As soon as they were through the Devil's Throat, Jack relinquished the helm to Gibbs and stepped away, letting the older man take over now that they were on easier waters. Getting through the Devil's Throat was something Jack seemed to do with such ease that there were murmurs among the crew that he had some sort of supernatural powers. Elizabeth smiled to herself. She had often wondered that herself and in fact, when she was younger she had fancied him to be an immortal being with amazing powers to control the sea and any ship he stepped upon.

But then she had been stranded on an island with him and had discovered, much to both her dismay and surprise, Jack was actually quite human. He was capable of making mistakes, sometimes terrible mistakes, like trusting the wrong people. That included her, she suddenly realized. He had trusted her, let her close, let her take advantage of all that and had ultimately paid the maximum penalty for that trust: death.

Oh yes, Jack was human, full of all the foibles and insanity that that condition entailed.

When Jack walked past Elizabeth, he waved at her to follow him before retiring to his cabin. Elizabeth, realizing she couldn't really argue with her captain about propriety in front of the crew, followed him. She tried not to remember the last time she had been alone in a room with the man. At least this time they were in the outer sanctum of his cabin, a curtain separating them from where she presumed the bed must be.

Without even sparing a glance at her, Jack moved to the maps he had spread out over the table. "We'll begin your training this afternoon."

"Training?" Her voice was alarmed. Jack had not mentioned training and while she was nearly as green as the rest of the crew, she had a clearer head on her shoulders and an uncanny ability to understand how a ship should work.

Jack sat down in front of the maps and indicated for her to pull up the chest nearby to use as her own seat. As she did so, he continued. "Elizabeth, you know what our goal is with this venture, yes?"

"We're going to reclaim the _Pearl_." Had she missed something?

Jack continued without really acknowledging her answer. "Now, when we do find the _Pearl_ and we reclaim her from Barbossa, we're going to have a little problem."

"What to do with Barbossa?"

He gave her a rather reproachful look. "There is no problem there, Miss Swann." He didn't elaborate. He didn't really need to. "But you see, Miss Swann, when we reclaim the _Pearl_ , I, and part of this mangy crew, will be moving over to my ship. That leaves _this_ ship without a captain."

He let the words hang in the air.

"Me?" Elizabeth's voice came out in a gasp. "Shouldn't that go to Gibbs?" The older man was much more experienced than she was and he was First Mate. She knew how politics worked on pirate ships. First Mate got to take over any plundered ship. In this case, since that plundered ship would actually be the one the captain of the current ship wanted, it meant that the First Mate _should_ be the one to take over the previous ship. A simple solution.

"Miss Swann, Gibbs has been with me for a long time. We have plundered countless ships, taken over many that were still able to be sailed. You will notice, however, that Gibbs is still with me. Do you know why he's still with me, Miss Swann?"

She shook her head.

"He's with me because he _wants_ to be. Gibbs is more than just a competent sailor. He's shrewd, knowledgeable about everything a ship needs, everything it entails. He knows how to deal with the men fairly and he knows how to dole out punishment when it's needed. He's a comfort when the men are sick and injured. He's a feared leader when he is called upon to be so. He was offered any number of ships that we conquered, some adequate, some quite nice. And each time he declined in order to stay on as my First Mate. He and I have an understanding that I will no longer ask so he no longer has to decline"

Elizabeth was surprised. She would have assumed that any man would want control of his own ship. It seemed like something to aspire to and she had rather naively assumed that all the men on the ship were working toward that eventuality.

"And so that leaves you with only _me_ as a choice?"

"Yes." The word was so simple and yet held such a weight of responsibility.

"But I know even less than the crew!" she burst out with.

Jack's look was rather patronizing. "You're right. You do. But what you _do_ have, Miss Elizabeth Swann, is the ability to learn, something I don't think most of this crew actually has."

Elizabeth nodded.

"And _so_ , future Captain Swann, Pirate King…or Queen…whatever… _you_ will learn how to captain a vessel.

There was, ultimately, no arguing with the man. If Elizabeth were to dig deep into her heart though, dig through all the nervousness and insecurities, she would have to admit to herself that she was truly excited at the prospect. She had dreamed of doing just that when she was a child, always knowing in the back of her mind that it was just a dream, knowing that her lot in life would be to marry some upstanding member of society and spend the remainder of her days devoted to him and the children they would have. It had felt stifling, even as a girl. She couldn't have really imagined she actually _would_ become the captain of a pirate ship, sailing the high seas, tasting a freedom few would ever get to. Captain Swann. She liked the sound of that.

"I can tell by the smile on your face that you like this idea." Jack's voice came from very close to her ear and she could feel his breath fan out across the side of her face. She turned to look at him and found his eyes his mouth far too close to hers. Standing suddenly, stepping away from him, she took a deep breath.

"Yes…yes I do." There was no need to deny what Jack could so obviously see.

"Good." His smile matched the one still on her face. "Then I suggest you get a little rest and prepare yourself for the journey ahead." He turned back to study his maps.

She nodded, knowing a dismissal when she heard one. Before she turned to go, she asked the one important question on her mind. "Where do we start?"

"With maps, of course," he said dismissively, not even turning to look at her.

"Maps?" She was confused. She had expected to start with how to steer the ship or what all the important things to know about keeping a ship running were or maybe how to spot and board merchant ships loaded with treasure. But…maps?

"Yes, love...maps." He gave her a quick glance. "Without being able to read maps and chart courses, a captain is utterly useless. These maps are your lifeblood." He waved her away without further explanation.

This time she went, realizing he really was done with her for now and understanding, to some degree at least, why everything must start with maps. It seemed like such a dull thing, but she supposed one must always learn the basics, the uninteresting things, first before moving onto the more exciting aspects of the job.

Captain Swann. Yes. Yes indeed. She really did like the sound of that.

With a smile, she entered her cabin and curling up on her narrow bunk, managed to fall into a fitful sleep full of dreams of adventures on the high seas.

* * *

 

"So you're to be named captain of this vessel." Gibbs caught her on her way to Jack's cabin. There was no rancor in the man's voice.

"Apparently so." She sounded embarrassed, even to her own ears.

"Congratulations, Miss Elizabeth. You'll make a fine captain, I think." She smiled.

"Thank you, Mr. Gibbs." She started to turn away, but then thought to turn back to him, to say one more thing that was on her mind. "This is all your doing, isn't it?"

"What is?" The man seemed to not be confused so much as he seemed a bit hesitant.

"All of this. My being on this ship. I don't think Jack would have come back for me on his own. And this being named captain after we find the _Pearl_. All of it, Mr. Gibbs. I just can't imagine Jack doing this all on his own."

Gibbs opted to concede on at least one account. "Jack went back only partially at my urging, Miss Elizabeth. I think he would have felt terribly guilty for leaving ye behind again…"

"Do you think he felt guilty about that?" It was the first time she had thought it even possible. She couldn't imagine his being eaten up inside with guilt over what he had done to her, not like she was over what she had done to _him_. Somehow it almost seemed like it was her just penance for her past actions. She had, after all, told him she had _not_ been sorry for what she had done. In the long run, that ended up being far from the truth. She immediately felt sorry for it and sorry it had torn their somewhat tenuous friendship apart.

"I can't say, miss. But what I _can_ say is that I had nothin' to do with ye being named captain. I think that's pure logic, is what it is." With those words and a wink, he walked off to tend to his duties as First Mate, leaving Elizabeth with little to do except knock on the door to Jack's cabin.

* * *

 

They had been holed up in Jack's cabin for hours and while they had gotten somewhere with the map reading, Elizabeth was still confused. Jack seemed to have an intuitive sense of how maps worked, of how to mark the distances between objects and know exactly how long it would take to get there, if the weather cooperated. Jack admitted he fully expected the weather to do as he wanted it to and the charmed existence he had led thus far seemed to indicate he had good reason to feel that way

Elizabeth, on the other hand, struggled to formulate the math in her head and was frustrated when her calculations came out wrong. She constantly reverted to writing in the margins of paper, scribbling little notes and crossing out numbers that she kept reversing.

Jack, as she unfortunately found out, was not a patient teacher. Frequently he snapped at her. _What if you have no extra paper to write on? What if you need to make the calculations quickly in the midst of a storm? What if you're under attack and need to set the best course to get away from your attackers?_ He kept throwing the questions at her until she threw her hands up in the air and tossed her pen across the room.

"I'm sorry Jack. This is _not_ going to work." She rubbed the bridge of her nose, knowing she was fighting off a terrible headache. "I have never read a map before. Most of the time I'm not even sure which way is north." It was a hard admission to make. For all her dreams of pirates and sailing, she had never been able to read up on the technicalities of life aboard a ship. All she had ever read had been the books of the daring adventures of pirates. They made her crave the adventure, but hadn't told her what it would really be like.

"It _is_ going to work. It has to, because I am not teaching one of those incompetents how to do this. _You_ are going to be captain and I won't take 'I can't do this' as an answer." He sounded exasperated and rightly so. "Let's go out on deck and get some fresh air."

Elizabeth heaved a sigh at the thought of a break.

"Come on, Elizabeth," Jack said brightly, picking up something off the table. "I'll show you how to use a sextant."

Apparently a break was not quite in order. She followed him out onto the deck, squinting into the bright sunlight. The sea spread out all around them and for the first time in hours, Elizabeth smiled. Yes, _this_ was what it was all about.

For a moment, Jack just drank it in next to her, listening as the sounds of the crew behind them seemed to fade away and the sound of the ship passing through the sea became like a song to them. He murmured something that she didn't quite hear at first. Or, rather, didn't believe she actually heard. Snippets of memories came back to her, washed over her, took her back to a time when things were much easier, and when things seemed a lot less complicated between her and Jack.

"What did you say?" she said quietly, not daring to look at the man next to her.

"Yo ho…a pirate's life for me." He raised the sextant in a sort of salute to both Elizabeth and the sea.

She looked at him and smiled. "Did you know that I actually enjoyed being stranded on that island with you?" It was a confession of sorts. She had seemed so angry, so worried about Will, so panicked at the thought of ending her days marooned on an island with a pirate. The reality was much more difficult for her to swallow.

"Did you now?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow and turning to look at her. He leaned closer, lips just a hair's breadth from hers.

"I did." She didn't pull away.

He leaned forward, brushed his lips across hers for just a moment. It was a teasing, light, soft kiss. And it was the first they had shared that was not out of desperation or anger.

She lifted her eyes to his, not entirely sure what to think anymore. She finally turned and looked away just as his next words found their way to her ears.

"I always thought so."


	21. Chapter 20

** Chapter 20 **

Elizabeth and Jack spent the next several afternoons holed up together in Jack's cabin, studying the maps that Jack had. He was a relentless and hard teacher, throwing question after question at her, forcing her to flounder many times before getting the right answer. Scenarios were given that she had to find her way out of.

"If a ship is coming at you from _this_ direction," he said as he pointed a finger at a section of the map, drawing it slowly in an arc toward the little toy ship he had placed on the map to represent their location. "And you are heading in this direction." He drew their ship across the map on a collision course with the other ship. "It's a war ship, not one that you could actually defeat and frankly, one that has nothing worth pillaging anyway. You need to get out of there quickly, disappear over the horizon before they can figure out where you've gone. Where do you go?"

She hesitated and Jack responded, his voice grim. "They've already seen you by now and will have turned toward you. It's _over_ in that moment, unless you have a swift ship like the _Pearl_." He paused and gave her a rather pointed look. "This ship is not one of those."

Elizabeth cringed.

"You must _know_."

She sighed. She knew she had to know, but she was still learning, still so new at all of this. "I'm _trying_ Jack."

"Trying is not good enough."

Glaring at him, Elizabeth got ready to heave her pen across the room. Jack caught her wrist painfully in his hand.

"Not so fast there, missy. Do you want to captain your own ship or not?"

She conceded the point and they got back to work.

And so it went. Each afternoon they got together and went over the maps. Slowly, ever so slowly, Elizabeth got a feel for the way the maps worked, for how to tell where their ship was in the midst of the maps, how to chart a course and keep to it. It was long, tedious work, but at the end of it, Jack finally stood and shook her hand.

"Congratulations, future Captain Swann. You now know enough about maps to at least not get yourself killed or your ship taken."

She took his hand and smiled gratefully.

"Of course, you'll never quite be as good as me…"

"Jack?" she said quietly, demurely. He stopped talking long enough to listen to her next words. "Will you please just stop already?"

Jack's face fell as his eyes narrowed. Elizabeth jumped up with a squeal and darted to the door. Their lesson was over. It seemed to be a good time to beat a hasty retreat.

Jack, however, apparently wasn't going to let her. He flung himself across the room, managing to throw his arms out at the last moment, keeping the door shut and Elizabeth trapped between his arms. "And where do you think _you_ are going?" he said quietly.

"Are we not done?" she asked innocently.

Jack sighed. "Yes…yes we're done. You may resume your duties." He released her then and Elizabeth left, but not before giving him an odd look.

* * *

 

Gibbs found that he snickered to himself every time Elizabeth left Jack's cabin. Often, her colour was high and her eyes were narrowed. The good captain had a way of offending the girl that was highly amusing to him and the other crew members. In remembrance of his old bets with the crew of the _Pearl_ , he started placing bets with various members of the new crew. Most of them had no idea what the history between the captain and their bos'n was, though some of the smarter ones recognized there was _something_ there.

From the way the two argued, sometimes so loud the crew could hear it through the door of the cabin, many had bet that Elizabeth would be put off at the first port they landed at. Still others bet that there would be a swordfight that involved blood, whose he was not quite sure of. Only Gibbs and one other man had laid down money that the two would end up in bed. They weren't sure how to prove that one, so while the two were in his cabin alone each afternoon, various men were posted outside the door with the duty of doing nothing more than listening. It was a secret duty and they were supposed to quickly disperse when there was indication that Elizabeth was ready to head out.

Only once were the men almost caught. It had been a sudden departure by Elizabeth in the heat of anger, Jack right at her heals with his voice raised and body taut. They had rushed away from the door and when Jack had followed Elizabeth out he had seen them leaving. The look he had given them was suspicious, but Gibbs had brushed it off and insisted nothing was going on. Jack had still seemed to be rather apprehensive but he had let it go.

Gibbs had breathed a sigh of relief and had reprimanded the men in private.

* * *

 

An enigma. That had been the word she had used to describe the father. And those were the words she could just as easily attach to the son. One minute he was cold, the next angry. Yet another time he was humourous and a minute after that he was trying to seduce her.

Oh yes, she knew he thought she was a bit too naïve to realize he was attempting to seduce her, but she wasn't as naïve as he thought. One would have to be completely stupid to not know exactly what Jack was doing in those moments. He was anything but subtle. His apparent years of seducing women hadn't made him as smooth as one might have thought. She found it amusing, and God help her, a little bit endearing.

The real problem lay with her, rather than Jack. There were times when she forgot she was married, times she _wanted_ to forget she was married. She and Jack were redeveloping a good solid friendship. Things could never truly return to where they had been before, but she had hoped they could find some sort of resolution for all the anger that had built up inside them.

In her darker moments, Elizabeth would admit to herself that she was still angry. It had been a horrible and lonely period in her life, days stretching out on end. She had come to realize very early on that there was a very real possibility of her ending her days there and she would have cursed Jack to the end. It was mere fate that had brought Jack to her nonexistent doorstep. And it had been Gibbs' presence that had brought Jack to her. While Gibbs had been instrumental in helping her, she realized, quite oddly, that she really had Barbossa to thank for her getting off the island. What were the chances that the very man who had once stranded her on an island and left her there to die, was the one who had orchestrated her rescue _this_ time?

In her darkest moments, those times reserved only for the middle of the night and even then, only confined to her cabin, she thought of her son and cursed Jack because he had died. Oh, she knew it wasn't his fault, not entirely, but she wondered if things would have been different had they not been on the island. If a doctor had been present, would he have lived? Would the cruel hand of fate have dealt the same blow to her if she had been living in Shipwreck Cove or aboard a ship somewhere? Frequently when those moments occurred, she had to stop herself from crying out in anger and frustration. She had hidden the one piece of her son's clothing she had brought with her, his "Sunday best," underneath the thin mattress. She spent countless nights curled up on her bed, holding the fabric tight in her arms. Sammy would usually crawl up onto the bed with her, finding a spot for his body to be comfortable and yet still be as close to her as possible. Somehow the little dog just _knew_ things were not right with his master during those moments and he seemed to know, as all dogs did, how to bring comfort to her.

Those nights always seemed so long. She preferred the ones when she would collapse into bed after a day of hard exertion. When her body and mind had been worked to the point of collapse, only then could she fall into a sound, dreamless sleep. It was why she often pushed herself too hard. It earned the respect of the crew, yes, but it also enabled her to keep going when the pain threatened to overwhelm her.

Gibbs would often attempt to stop her from pushing herself, sometimes even going so far as to pluck her off the rigging before she got too far up into it, admonishing her for taking too many risks. Jack let her go, let her spread her wings a bit. He watched her carefully and she was well aware of it. He never stopped her and that was something she would always appreciate. She needed to get a feel for the ship from all angles and though she sometimes slipped and came close to tumbling onto the deck from high above, she felt free while doing so. And freedom was of the utmost importance.

* * *

 

"I'm worried about her, Jack." Gibbs had requested a rare audience with his captain. Usually what he had to say to the man could be said with anyone around. But not this. This was private and not any of the crew's business, bets or not.

Jack, perched on the one chair in his cabin and did nothing more than look at his First Mate, his eyes utterly inscrutable. It forced Gibbs to continue and he did so while pacing in front of the younger man. "Have you taken a good look at her, Jack?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. It was a rare moment when Gibbs called him by his given name and not "captain." He realized the man was coming to him as a friend, not as his First Mate. "I look at her all the time," he said with a wink.

"I don't mean it that way. Dammit, Jack, be serious for a moment!" Gibbs was exasperated and his voice, explosive and harsh, hit Jack like a cannon.

"I could have you keelhauled for that," Jack said quietly.

"Jack." Gibbs squatted down next to his captain. "Please just listen to me as a friend for a moment." Jack did not say anything and Gibbs took that as permission to continue. "Have you really gotten a good look at her? Really looked into her eyes? There's something strange there Jack, something that's just not right. And I don't think it has nothin' to do with her chainin' ya to the ship nor yer leavin' her on that island. There's somethin' else there, Jack, mark my words. She's workin' herself too hard, losin' weight too. She's lookin' like naught but skin an' bones lately."

Jack remained silent, barely moving at all. Gibbs, having spoken his peace, stood and started to exit the cabin. It seemed the conversation was over.

"Mr. Gibbs," Jack suddenly said, causing his First Mate to turn back around toward him. "Tomorrow I shall be climbing to the crow's nest with Miss Swann. We will be up there for some hours. While we're there, I want you to search her cabin, find any evidence of this…assertion of yours. If there's anything in there that is out of the ordinary, I want to know." He turned away from Gibbs and went back to studying his maps.

Gibbs, knowing a dismissal when he heard one, bowed and departed.


	22. Chapter 21

** Chapter 21 **

"Up you go!" Jack announced.

Elizabeth shot him a disparaging look. "Up?" She looked up at the rigging high above her. She had climbed up there several times, clinging to the ropes like a seasoned sailor in order to aid a crewmember in tying a knot or getting the sails readied. Each time she had done it without thinking, without worrying about the likelihood of her falling to a premature death on the deck of the _Bonny Lass_.

"Yes. Up. Today we're going to spend some time up in the crow's nest." Elizabeth's gaze continued up even higher.

"Can two people _fit_ in there?"

Jack laughed. "It's a lot bigger than it looks from down here. Now…up you go!" Elizabeth hesitated. "I'll be right behind you…or…under you, as the case may be." His voice started off soft, but then he offered an eyebrow wiggle on the last bit.

It had the effect he likely wanted it to. Elizabeth made a sound of frustration and started the climb. Jack stood below her, waiting for her to get high enough up for him to follow. She had just cleared that point when Jack took the first few steps upward. "You know, Lizzie, this is when I really wish you still wore dresses."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and without thinking, lashed out with one foot. She connected solidly with Jack's forehead and was somewhat dismayed when she heard him let out a loud "oof" and was even more dismayed when she heard him land hard on the deck. She stopped climbing to look down at him.

"Miss Swann!" he shouted up at her as he rose. "That is _not_ a nice thing to do to your captain!" She couldn't quite tell if his voice was truly angry, embarrassed, or just merely amused. "You better _move_ , missy." And with those words, he raced back to the rigging and started to climb after her.

Letting out a squeal, Elizabeth started to climb rapidly, not really entirely paying attention to where her feet were stepping. More than once, she slipped a little and was forced to hold on tightly lest she lose her balance and fall. It was a race all the way up to the crow's nest. For each bit she advanced, Jack was close by. He never overtook her, however, and she knew with almost certainty that he was purposely holding back.

When she finally got to the top, she had to hang onto the top of the wooden structure and heave herself up and over. Not an easy feat and had she been a shorter or weaker woman, she likely wouldn't have been able to do it on her own. As is, she just barely had the strength to pull herself over it. She collapsed inside, sitting down to catch her breath.

Jack, following right behind her, was relieved to see her disappear inside the Crow's nest. It made things easier for him. He paused for a moment and caught the eye of Gibbs, who was standing at the helm. He nodded at the man and waved him off. Gibbs clearly knew exactly what the captain wanted and handed off the helm to the only other person Jack would trust with the wheel, a young man far too bright for the likes of this crew. Jack followed his progress and when the older man entered Elizabeth's cabin, shutting the door quietly behind him, finally turned away. Smiling, Jack followed Elizabeth into the crow's nest, disappearing from the view of the rest of the crew.

* * *

 

Gibbs breathed a sigh of relief as he shut the door to Elizabeth's cabin, reaching up to light the one small lamp in the room. He didn't like doing this, not a bit. But Jack had asked and he had to agree. Well, no, he knew he could have refused Jack's request. Jack would never hold it against him. But what he also knew was that Jack would have found  _someone_ to do this duty, someone with far less respect and scruples than he. Or Jack would have done it himself.

For some reason, he liked the thought of the latter less than anything else. It was not entirely that he was protecting Jack, though in some ways he knew he was, but more like he wanted to keep things on the ship on an even keel. If Jack and Elizabeth had a row, who knows what life would be like on the ship? The two were both incredibly dominant personalities, both stubborn beyond belief. And stupid to boot. Yes. Stupid. Gibbs hated to admit it to himself, but Jack and Elizabeth had been dancing around each other, completely obtuse to what seemed to be going on in the head of the other.

And so now he had to go find _evidence_ that something was haunting Elizabeth. Sometimes he could kick himself for bringing anything up to that man. "Find proof, Mr. Gibbs…figure her out, Mr. Gibbs…go dig through the lady's under things, Mr. Gibbs." Alright. The last ultimately wasn't too bad, even if it were a bit embarrassing.

A quick glance around her abode showed that it was a very spartan arrangement. The narrow bed was pushed into one corner, with a small desk and chair pushed into the other. A threadbare rug was thrown on the floor next to the bed, no doubt where her dog slept each night. There wasn't much there to inspect.

He moved first to the desk, quickly opening drawers and rifling through the contents. Most were empty, but in the ones that had something in them, he found the various tools of map reading. He knew they weren't Jack's, for they were much smaller and simpler than the elaborately carved tools he owned, and Gibbs wondered briefly where they had come from. Maps were stuffed into the top drawer, piled upon each other, each with various notes in the margins in neat script. What he did _not_ find was any sort of evidence to back up his claim that Elizabeth was haunted by _something_ she wasn't sharing with them.

He moved on to the things she had pushed under the bed, kneeling down to pull out whatever he could find, first drawing out with a few extra shirts and a pair of pants. Apparently the crew had been giving her various items and he was grateful for their forethought. He hadn't really thought of the fact that Elizabeth had little in the way of clothes and what she had come on board the ship with had been torn and bloodstained from the shark incident. He had only been worried that she would _not_ be allowed on and all his energies had been focused on getting Jack to allow her to continue on with them.

Once that had occurred, well, he had been fully involved in getting the betting going. It had occupied far too much of his off-duty time.

He found nothing within the clothes under her bed. Yet another disappointment. He pulled himself up off the floor, joints creaking as he did so. _Yer getting' too old for this stuff, Joshamee, ol' boy._

He sat down on her bed and sighed. Nothing. Not a damned thing. He had looked everywhere.

A whisper of thought passed through his mind and he looked down. The only place he _hadn't_ looked was the bed. He stood and tore the pillow and covers off the bed, finally following with the bed as well.

He almost missed it. It seemed to be just a scrap of cloth left behind, shoved under the palette. He almost tossed the bed back down in frustration. He almost walked out of the cabin with nothing, no proof, nothing to show Jack. But then he picked up that scrap of cloth and discovered it was not just some random scrap of clothing, but rather a small shirt, shoddily sewn for the most part, and certainly too small for Elizabeth or anyone else on the ship. It was small…like a child's. He let that though roll around in his mind for a moment, horrified at the extent of his discovery. This was not what he was expecting.

Finally realizing his search was done, Gibbs carefully replaced everything, put it all back where he had found it, straightening things up and trying to make it as neat as Elizabeth had left it.

He carefully opened the door of Elizabeth's cabin, looking immediately up to the crow's nest. The two were still up there, standing now, facing out with a spyglass pointed toward the horizon. They were paying no heed to him, though he was surprised to note Jack's dark eyes flitted down to him for just a moment.

Breathing a sigh of relief at getting in and out of Elizabeth's cabin unseen, Gibbs headed straight for the helm, taking it from the man who he had left in charge. It was a much more comfortable place for him.

* * *

 

"Do you know why I brought you up here today?" They had been sitting in the crow's nest for some time, just enjoying the sway of the ship underneath them. It was much more prominent when high above the deck. The first time many young sailors had gone up into the crow's nest, they ended up having to crawl down and clean up after themselves. Seasickness and the position went hand in hand. Jack was glad, for more than one reason, to note that Elizabeth's constitution was stronger than most. This was a girl who was a natural sailor, despite the station she was born to in life.

Elizabeth just looked blankly at him, causing him to stand and hold out a hand. She didn't take the proffered hand, instead opting to prove she could stand on her own despite the swaying of the ship.

Jack shrugged at her reaction, opting not to say anything about the refusal. He pointed in a direction that was slightly northeast. "Do you see it?"

She shook her head. She saw birds, more sea. The colour from so far up was fascinating, the striations of turquoise and a darker blue was breathtaking. But somehow she didn't think that was quite what he had meant. He was pointing further off into the distance, toward the horizon.

"No?" He smiled and held up a device to her. "Now look." He brought it up to one of her eyes and she did as he instructed, gasping as suddenly she was staring at what appeared to be an island. She had seen Jack and other sailors use them, but she hadn't had a chance to look through one herself. She hadn't had any idea that they brought distant objects this close.

"It's amazing," she murmured. "What is the island, Jack?"

"It's a chance to stock up before we go after Barbossa"

"You know where he is?" It was the first time he had truly spoken of Barbossa since he started training her to captain the _Bonny Lass_. She hadn't been sure he even had any idea where he was. "How?"

Jack reached into one of the many pockets on his outfit and pulled something out. He held it out in front of her and said words she hadn't heard in a long time. "Tell me, Elizabeth, what is it you want _most_ in this world?"

She smiled. The words brought back a world of memories and for just a moment her heart felt light. It took her back to a time before she had betrayed Jack, before Will had become the captain of the _Flying Dutchman_ , before her hasty marriage to him. Hasty? Was that what she really thought of her marriage? Something hastily decided upon in the heat of battle, when she didn't have the time to sit down and really think, really decide if it were truly what she wanted?

Perhaps she really did feel that way. She didn't want to examine those thoughts.

"I want the _Pearl_ as much as you do, Jack."

"Really?" He handed her the compass.

"I don't want to look at it Jack." She remembered the last time she had, the confusion it had created inside her heart.

"Just look." She couldn't resist the seductive tone of her voice and lifted the cover slightly. She glanced down for a moment before slamming it shut, thrusting it back into Jack's hands.

Her eyes rose to his, meeting his, the kohl bringing out the smile within them. "Like what you see?" he asked and she wasn't sure if he meant the compass or something…or rather, some _one_ else.


	23. Chapter 22

** Chapter 22 **

It took a few more days for Gibbs to be able to talk to Jack about what he had discovered in Elizabeth's cabin. The captain had waved him off on countless occasions, always insisting there was something more important that needed to be done. First it was getting into port, then it was getting provisions, then it was getting back _out_ of port.

Everyone on the ship had been busy and excited at the prospect of finding themselves in port. They were sadly disappointed when they discovered that their captain intended only to restock and then head back out to sea. The men had, however, done their duties to the best of their abilities, gathering up supplies for the remainder of the voyage ahead. The promise of some action, of finally going after Barbossa and his ship kept them going and made them return to ship. They only lost one man while there. No one was certain if he had opted to stay behind or if he had come to an unfortunate end. But either way, when they were ready to set sail, one less man left with them.

Elizabeth had accompanied Jack on his mission of procuring rum for the crew, while Gibbs had been forced to look for other much less interesting provisions. It was all done in such a rushed way that Gibbs barely had time to feel the solidness of the land beneath his feet before he was back on the ship and they were shoving off once more.

Jack did not want the crew to spend the night at port. It would mean a day or two of headaches, sloppy work, and a crew not up to par. Gibbs wasn't entirely sure what the plan was, only that they had a clear heading toward Barbossa. Jack's compass, that only somewhat trustworthy magical compass, had pointed in the direction they needed to go. Jack had verified the location in port, asking various people if they had heard anything of the _Black Pearl_. Many had and most had pointed in the direction his compass was pointing. South-southeast…on a collision course with the Isla de Muerta…the Island of Death.

That had surprised Gibbs. He couldn't even begin to imagine what would lead Barbossa back to where the curse he had worked so hard to rid himself of had started. He had not actually seen the treasure that was there, having left Jack's crew before the infamous mutiny, but perhaps the pull was just simply too much for the pirate. He hoped that was all there was too it…treasure. But he had a funny feeling there was something else.

Jack finally caught up with Gibbs as they were setting sail once more. The flurry of activity was starting to quiet down, the men falling into their various duties. Gibbs was standing at the helm, having just gotten the ship steered out of port, past the other ships on their way in. "Mr. Gibbs, a word with you please," Jack said quietly and continued on his way toward his cabin.

Gibbs sighed, once again handing the helm over to the only somewhat capable young man who was the third one down for the helm. He followed Jack into his cabin and shut the door behind him. "Lock it." Gibbs did as Jack asked and moved further into the cabin.

"So…let's have it."

Gibbs had been coming up with any number of ways to tell Jack the news he had to impart. He had avoided meeting with Jack about it, had been happy that things were too busy for Jack to be able to ask. He didn't entirely know how to tell him this.

"Well, sir…" Elizabeth was hiding a secret. Not just something silly and unimportant. No, she was hiding something _major_. Along the lines of _I've come from another planet and I intend to eat your brains_ major.

"This is serious, isn't it?" Jack asked with a gentle smile. "What did her diary say?"

"Well, she had no diary sir. The chit's done nothin' but scribble on maps since ya took her on board." He was hesitating.

Jack smiled. "That's my girl."

Gibbs shot him a look and Jack waved at him to continue. "I found a shirt."

"A shirt?" Jack's voice sounded perplexed.

"Aye sir…a little shirt."

"Little…"

"Aye…'bout the size of a child's, sir." The words came out slightly choked. There, he had said it. Well, he hadn't quite said it. He had hedged around it and simply told Jack what he had found in her cabin, letting the other man draw his conclusions as he saw fit.

"A child, you say?" Gibbs nodded. "But we saw no child on the island." It would explain what was haunting the girl, if she had had a child and the child had died on that island.

"No sir, we didn't. Dead, perhaps," he ventured. The other possibility was somehow much worse. If she had indeed _not_ had a child and was still making children's clothes…The thought really did not bear thinking about. Elizabeth did not _appear_ to be insane, but that many years on the island, all by herself? It was possible.

Jack had, after all, come back a little bit dafter after his short time of being stranded on an island. It wouldn't entirely surprise anyone that Elizabeth had lost a little bit of her mind after being stranded for three years.

Jack nodded, but kept his thoughts entirely to himself.

"Am I dismissed, sir?" Gibbs ventured. He stood and shifted from one foot to the other.

"What?" Jack looked up at him and seemed to completely not comprehend what Gibbs had just asked. "Oh…yes…yes, go ahead," he said as the words finally seemed to register.

Gibbs turned to leave, but turned to look at his captain as he started to shut the door. He didn't expect the man to suddenly put his head in his hands. He saw his shoulders slump wearily just moments before he finally shut the door.

* * *

 

Elizabeth had finished her duties, making her rounds and keeping an eye on the crew. It had been a grueling few days and she had barely seen Jack and Gibbs throughout them. The crew was starting to come about, starting to get their collective acts together, but they still required a lot of work. Together, they had taken down the sails one more time, checked them all over, and then rigged them up. They had some hard sailing ahead of them to get to where Barbossa had the _Pearl_.

She was worried about that, knew that Jack was known for claiming the _Pearl_ "nigh uncatchable." She didn't know how their ship, which was larger and crewed by a much less experienced crew, would actually catch the _Pearl_.

Jack had reassured her that it was quite possible. His response was always a rather arrogant, "She's fast only with _me_ at the helm." She opted to give him the benefit of the doubt on that one. It was likely true. Jack had an uncanny knack of knowing how to get the most out of a ship and he had an almost supernatural connection with the _Pearl_. Twice he had gone down with the ship and twice both had been resurrected. Her sails, tattered though they were, would fill with more wind than Elizabeth thought was out there. Surely the holes in the sails would cause the ship to move sluggishly, if it indeed even moved. But that didn't happen. She moved swiftly and surely across the sea and it had been a true joy to stand upon her decks.

She wondered what part of his soul Jack had sold in order to gain that connection.

When she walked into her cabin, Sammy following at her heels, she was surprised to hear him growl and feel him back hard into her legs. Her head, which had been staring down at the floor open entering, suddenly shot up.

He was sitting there, on her bed, face grave, lined eyes looking oddly serious. "Jack." His name sounded strange even to her own ears. Why was he here, in her cabin, and looking at her so oddly? She didn't tread any further into her own quarters. She didn't dare.

Jack said nothing, just continued looking at her and slowly lifted something into her view. She hadn't seen it at first, a scrap of clothing on his lap that blended in with the myriad of patches and multi-coloured layers he wore. When he held it up, however, and suddenly brought it into her vision, she recognized it all too well. Her eyes shot back to his.

"Get out of here," she hissed.

"Elizabeth." He said nothing more than her name, shook his head a little bit, dropped the shirt back to his lap.

"Get out." She repeated the words, her voice low and tight. She felt her throat choking up and could barely get any words out.

"I know, Elizabeth. I know what this is. I know what this means."

She rushed forward suddenly, snatched the shirt from Jack's hands. He let it go without a fight, but still did not move from her bed. "How dare you! How _dare_ you invade my privacy, go through my things, and sit there as if you had a right to do it!"

"I'm your captain. This is my ship." She sprung forward and slapped him hard across the face. He took that too without saying a word. He didn't even cringe, just calmly looked at her, eyes quiet. She hated what she saw there.

"Then count me one who is not among your crew and remove yourself from my cabin." She turned from him, back straight.

She didn't hear him move but suddenly he was behind her and his next words came from just behind her ear. "You know where to find me when you need me." And he dropped something on the desk. Without turning around, she knew he had moved to the door. She heard it creak and then he spoke one more time. "Elizabeth?" She turned to look at him. "I'm sorry." He disappeared out the door, letting it shut quietly behind him.

She looked down at the desk, the tears starting to form in her eyes. The compass. He had left her his compass.


	24. Chapter 23

** Chapter 23 **

Elizabeth spent a miserable several hours in her cabin, holding Sammy tight to her. The tears that she thought had been burned out of her finally found their way out, flowing down her cheeks. More than once, she had cried until her body had been wracked with heaves and she ended up at the chamber pot, emptying the contents of her stomach into it. Finally, there was nothing left, and yet the heaves continued, leaving her exhausted and pained.

Gibbs had knocked on the door after a couple hours, asking if she were all right. Her response was to shout wearily at him, tell him to go away. No one was welcome. No one could come in. She had gotten up, jammed the chair underneath the door, and crawled back to her bed.

She had been ignoring it, trying to pretend it hadn't happened, trying to go back in time to before everything. She had just shoved it from her mind. The darkness had overtaken her sometimes, but she had felt strangely detached from it as she sat in the dark of her cabin each night. It had taken just one thing, one tiny thing, for the pain to suddenly overwhelm her.

Jack. She didn't understand how he could possibly invade her space, dig through her things, even take her bed apart, in order to find something that could hurt her. _Why?_ Why would he go out of his way to hurt her? He had to have known that what he found was significant. He had to have known it would rip her apart.

But he did it anyway, sat on her bed, waited for her, confronted her with it. _I know…_

Of course he would find out sometime. She knew she would have had to tell him. She planned to, someday, when she could say the words without breaking down and being overwhelmed by the darkness. But he took that from her, took the ability to choose when she wanted to let him know. _Damn him_.

She had rescinded her job as part of his crew. She hadn't really wanted to. Jack had been working so hard to train her for her future duties. It made so little sense that he would go out of his way to hurt her. Their relationship had lightened from where it had been when they first met up again. They fought almost constantly, but there were those moments of companionship, those rare, short moments when they both breathed easier and sometimes even laughed together. She loved those moments. She longed for them. She thought Jack felt the same.

But then he had betrayed her, yet again, some sort of revenge for what she had done to him. Apparently stranding her on an island for over three years wasn't enough.

"Oh, Jack," she whispered. Sammy crawled over to her, cocked his head to the side, one scruffy grey ear flopping over backward. She fixed the ear and reached out to hug him. "What are we to do now?" Rescinding her position meant she would likely be put off the ship eventually. A harsher captain, one she didn't have such a history with, would have no doubt forced her off the ship immediately, making her walk the plank and take her chances with the sharks or on yet another uninhabited island. But Jack had at least allowed her to remain on the ship and in her cabin. _You know where to find me when you need me…_

She did indeed know where to find him, but she did _not_ need him, not right now at least. The last was a concession and one that was, ultimately, not easy to admit to herself.

* * *

 

"What did you do to her, Jack?" It had been nearly two days since Elizabeth had locked herself in her cabin. No one had seen her since then and all evidence pointed to her not actually leaving at all. Gibbs had stopped by and knocked on the door once, worried about her, and left feeling even worse when she shouted at him in a strangled voice. She was not well.

Jack was at the helm when Gibbs approached him. He had spent most of the past day there. There was no reason for the captain to be helming the ship for so many hours, not when there were other capable helmsmen on board. But he insisted, snarling at anyone who came near the helm. After the first couple attempts to take over, everyone had chosen to just leave the captain alone, resorting to their First Mate for orders. It was easier that way.

Gibbs, however, couldn't let it alone anymore. He was afraid for the young woman. It seemed the bad luck he always feared a woman would bring on board was starting to come true.

"Nothing," Jack muttered. It had been the first words Gibbs heard the man speak since he emerged from his cabin following the incident with Elizabeth.

"I'm sorry sir?"

"Nothing, Mr. Gibbs!" His voice rose, snapped at Gibbs. "I did _nothing_ to the girl. I showed her what you found and _this_ happened." He let go of the wheel and threw his hands up in the air. Gibbs frantically grabbed for the helm before the ship spun out of control. Luckily, the seas were calm and the transfer of the helm from Jack to Gibbs did not affect the path nor smoothness of the ship.

Gibbs chose not to point out the obvious: that Jack had made him go after that proof. "You didn't _say_ anything to her, Jack?" Jack looked at him and for the first time, Gibbs noticed that his eyes seemed to have the same haunted look that was in Elizabeth's. _Bloody hell_. "You need to go talk to her."

"And how, pray tell, am I supposed to accomplish that feat? She has apparently locked herself in her cabin and will not talk to anyone. You yourself tried to get her to come out and what did you get? Silence. Harsh words and then silence."

Gibbs couldn't think of a word to say. It was the truth and he knew it. Elizabeth wouldn't talk to _anyone_.

Jack continued. "Considering she thinks it was _I_ who broke into her cabin and rifled through her things, she definitely will not talk to me."

The words were pointed and Gibbs understood the meaning. _Tell her it was you._

Gibbs sighed. "I did it at your behest."

Jack just gave him a look, one eyebrow up, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"All right, Jack." Jack still said nothing, just waited. "All right already! Blasted Jack! I'll tell her. But I'm not goin' to break down her door to get to her. She'll have to come out first."

Jack nodded. It was as close to an agreement as Gibbs was going to get.

* * *

 

It was the middle of the night three days after Jack had confronted her with his finding when Elizabeth finally left her cabin. She sent Sammy out ahead of her, almost as if he were a scout in a dangerous land. He rushed out, clearly excited to be let free, but then turned back to her and whined. Elizabeth took that as a sign that it was safe to exit the cabin.

Sammy immediately took off, his strange three-legged gait carrying him quickly away from her. Elizabeth followed him, rushing to catch up. Now where on earth could he be going?

He led her across the deck, straight for the stairs leading down. Shrugging, she followed him down, along the hallway near where the men were sleeping, and found herself in the mess hall. "Of course," she murmured and a small laugh bubbled up within her. It was the first bit of humour she had felt in a few days. "You're starving. I don't know why you stayed at my side."

The mess hall was dim, but Elizabeth managed to find a candle near the doorway and lighting it, followed the dog into the room. She found a bit of bread that wasn't moldy and poured some water out of the barrel. She knelt down next to Sammy and offered him the bread. He gobbled it down faster than she could have imagined any being eating its food and quickly moved onto the water she was offering him.

"Are you going to eat something yourself?" The voice came from somewhere above her and she looked up to see him silhouetted in the doorway. He was leaning against the door frame, his thin form blending into the shadows around him.

"Jack." No more words would come.

"I know I said you could find me when you were ready." His voice was rueful. "But I couldn't resist." She could hear the grin that she couldn't see.

"Why, Jack?"

"Because you're just irresistible love."

"That's not what I meant." She knew he was well aware of what she meant. His answer, meant to be humourous, did nothing but irritate her.

"Mr. Gibbs…"

"I don't want to hear about him, Jack. I want to hear about _you_. Why?" Her voice was soft, pleading.

Jack left his spot by the door and walked into the light. Kneeling down beside her, he spoke again. "I had to know."

She looked at him, tears in her eyes. She studied his face, his eyes, trying to find what the reality was, what the truth was. "How can I believe you, Jack?" she whispered. Reaching out, she grasped his hands in hers. "Tell me how."

"You can't," he said simply. "You have to learn to trust me." The word _again_ was implied. She had once trusted him implicitly, had once been admonished by a man who had been at varying times a fiancé, a friend, and an enemy for that very trust. That trust had been shaken for a time and then finally crumbled to dust upon the shores of a tiny little island.

"I don't know how." Elizabeth's voice was a mere whisper. Jack's hands tightened on hers and he fell silent. He let go of one of her hands and reached up to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear, drawing his fingers lightly down her cheek in a rough caress.

He leaned forward and his lips were close to hers when he spoke. "I'm sorry." His voice was no louder than Elizabeth's had been.

She studied his eyes. They were dark and sincere. She could trust him in this at least. "I know." She closed the distance between them, her lips meeting his. She nearly knocked him over with the force, kissing him with a brutality he didn't think she was capable of. She forced his mouth open with tongue and teeth, nipping at his lower lip as she did so. Letting go of his hands, she leaned into him, pushing on his shoulders until he fell backward with her half on top of him.

He went with her willingly, though the initial stiffness of his body indicated he was surprised at her actions. Just as she slammed his shoulders into the ground, she let go, pulled back, took in a deep breath. She stood suddenly and started to walk away.

Jack reached out and wrapped his hand around her ankle, the only part of her anatomy he was able to touch at that moment. He tugged…hard. Elizabeth lost her balance and came down hard on her knees. Jack pulled her by the ankle, flipped her over, and the next thing she knew she was laying on her back with Jack above her, his hands pressed into the floor on either side of her.

She said his name and it came out sounding desperate. Desperate for what, she wasn't quite sure. He uttered her name back just moments before his lips came down hard on hers.

The tables had turned. He was now the aggressor, lips punishing hers, teeth drawing blood. She yelped underneath his mouth and he used that as an opening, sliding his tongue inside her mouth to explore her fully. He was ravishing her, devouring her alive.

She didn't care.

One of his hands came up and found the bottom of her shirt. Her outfit had come loose while she had been confined to her cabin and she hadn't bothered to fix it when she left. It was night. She hadn't expected to run into anyone. Suddenly she felt a hot, rough hand splayed out across her stomach, the heat burning the delicate skin.

She reacted violently, doubling over, forcing Jack to pull his hand from her. He did so quickly and free of his hand, she suddenly jumped up. She looked wild, hair askew, dark, sunken eyes wide. "I don't know what I was thinking."

And then she ran from him, no doubt retreating to her cabin.

Jack was left in the mess hall with only Sammy for company. The dog, having watched his master run off so quickly had stayed. He looked to Jack and whined.

"Hungry, eh boy?" The dog's tongue lolled out of his mouth and Jack, swearing the dog knew exactly what he was saying, stood and went to hunt for something for the little three-legged dog to eat. "Don't worry boy. I'll go after her. I think she just needs a little time." The dog just looked at him and he had the distinct impression he disapproved of his actions toward his master.


	25. Chapter 24

** Chapter 24 **

It actually took Jack another day before he went looking for Elizabeth. He had spent much of his time at the helm, keeping an eye out for her, hoping she would finally leave her cabin and he could go talk to her. He never saw her. Of course, the helm was in a poor location for keeping an eye on Elizabeth's cabin. If she walked out and went immediately to her right, he would never see her. If she took even a step or two forward from the door, he would. It was tricky and he had relied on her not realizing he was at the helm watching for her in order for it to work.

Several hours later, he had finally given up the helm, turning it over to Gibbs with the explicit instructions that if he saw Elizabeth emerge from her cabin, he was to immediately come find him.

In all the time he had spent holed up in his cabin alone with a bottle of rum, Gibbs had not come for him. He left the cabin when all was silent on his ship, when the moon had risen high into the clear sky, and most men were asleep. The ship was making quiet progress toward her final destination, moving fairly swiftly through the calm waters.

He found her at the bow of the ship, leaning out over the sea. He watched her for a few moments, noting she barely moved, just hung there, drinking in the smell of the sea air and no doubt feeling the occasional splash hitting her in the face. Jack took another step toward her.

"His name was James Weatherby." Jack stopped in surprise at her voice. It was quiet and straightforward, not a hint of anguish in the calm tones.

"James?" he questioned.

"Not after Norrington." There was a hint of humour in her voice. "My uncle. Father's brother. His name was also James. He died many years ago. I was just a child then." Her voice was clipped and the words came out rushed.

"It's a fine name."

"It was. I miss him, Jack." Jack had the sense that she was including all of them, her father, her uncle, and her son, in that one sentence.

"I know you do." What else could he say?

"Everyone I love dies." She turned to him then, her look pointed.

"Will's not dead." He cringed. He hated bringing up the boy's name, hated reminding Elizabeth of all that she had lost.

"No? He might as well be." She turned back to watching the sea.

"But in another seven years, he can return to be with you." The unvarnished truth. It was a reality he had no choice but to face.

"Can he, Jack? I don't think so anymore. I have been unfaithful."

Jack winced. Would Calypso really hold to such a tight interpretation of the clause she had built into the position? Unfortunately, Jack knew that was all too likely.

"I'm sorry."

"Why? This was not all your fault. I hold myself to blame just as much." Jack remembered her last kiss, harsh and beautiful, and completely initialized by herself.

"But we didn't…"

"No, but we might as well have…"

"Then let's." It was as close to an admission of what he truly wanted as he was capable of. The words were accompanied by a bit of light humour. She didn't know if he was serious.

"The ultimate betrayal? We can't, Jack." She paused, waiting for a reply that did not come. "Not that I don't want to."

"You do?" _Did she really just say that?_

She turned around, leaned her back against the rail, and looked at him. "But we can't."

Jack nodded. Did he dare take a step toward her, see her reaction? Yes, in the wake of her latest admission, he did dare. She didn't step away, didn't back off. He took another step toward her. And then another. When he stopped, he was less than a foot away.

"Can't," he repeated. "Or won't."

"Does it matter, Jack?" She met his eyes, didn't look away.

Jack sighed. "No, I suppose it doesn't." He leaned forward and still she didn't flinch back. He pressed his forehead against hers. "I'm so sorry, love." Reaching a hand up, he touched her cheek lightly and then backed off, intending to leave.

"Jack, wait." She grasped his wrist in her hand. "Please. I need to tell someone about him."

He nodded. "Come to my cabin, Lizzie." She tilted her head to the side at his words. "We can talk about him there."

"Jack…"

"I promise I won't seduce you." He raised his right hand in the air as he spoke.

She studied him for a moment, unable to read the look in his eyes. "You really promise, Jack?"

"Aye." She pushed herself away from the rail to follow him to the cabin. His voice came over his shoulders. "Unless you want me to."

She stopped, rolled her eyes, and smirked. There wasn't much she could say to that, so she followed him quietly into his cabin.

* * *

 

"Rum?" Jack offered her one of the bottles he kept in his room. He pulled down a glass, blew the dust out of it, and handed it to her.

"I think I'll just drink out of the bottle." The words were accompanied by a small smile.

"A girl after me own heart." Jack raised his bottle and clinked it against Elizabeth's before taking a deep swig of the golden coloured drink. She followed suit, needing the burn of the liquid.

"He was born around eight months after I arrived on the island. He was a month early and I was so scared he wouldn't live. He was so tiny, such a fragile little life. But he did. And he thrived. I had to deliver him myself, Jack. I'd never been in a birthing room so I had no idea entirely what to expect. It was a day and a half of agony, but I did it all on my own and he _lived_." All was said in a rush. She never looked at Jack as she talked, as she told the story of her beloved James. She described the first difficult year, of having to nurse a child, never knowing if he were getting the proper nutrition, as she was sure she wasn't.

She told Jack of the humourous times, the silly games they had played. "His first word was 'sea.' Can you believe that, Jack? Not 'mama,' not 'mum'…just 'sea.'"

"Yes. Actually, I can. He sounds like his mother."

"He was very much like me!" she exclaimed. "He had pirate blood in him. He was always staring out to sea, always talking of ships. I had to tell him the stories many times, relate to him the adventures of his mother with the great Captain Jack Sparrow."

"You told him about me?" Jack was surprised yet again. It seemed that nothing this woman ever did was what he thought she would do.

She shrugged. "Your stories are more interesting than most. And besides, I knew more of them than I did about anyone else. I was able to tell true stories, and when I ran out of those, I was able to make up something that sounded like you _would_ do it."

Jack grinned. "I am legendary, aren't I?" He puffed himself up.

"Or at least daft enough to be interesting." Jack deflated.

"At least it's something."

"Indeed." She continued on to recount their adventures as the Pirate King and her right-hand man, how they had games where they sacked the port, or defended their pirate stronghold against various threats. She didn't dare tell him that sometimes they pretended Jack had come back for them and they had taken to the high seas as part of the crew of the _Pearl_.

She fell silent. It had all been so wonderful, so amazingly perfect. For two years it had been just she and her son, a tiny little family lost in the midst of the sea.

"What happened, Elizabeth?" Jack's voice invaded her thoughts quietly.

"He died." The words came out choked.

Jack waited for her to continue. When she didn't, he put a hand on her shoulder, a small encouragement.

"Fever. One moment he was fine, playing by the sea. The next he told me he wasn't feeling well. I…I put him to bed and went out to fetch some dinner. When I came back, he was hot to the touch. His face was flushed. The next three days were hell. He was delirious, crying out in his sleep. I tried my best to keep him cool. I held him as he cried in pain. And then he got quiet. Too quiet. I could hear his final breath." She took an unsteady breath then. "And then there was no more. He was gone. And I could do nothing to bring him back."

One tear made its way down her cheek and she brushed it away angrily. "The fever took me next. I thought I would die there beside my son's body."

Jack shuddered.

"But I woke up, cool, not long afterward. The fever was short and nothing that really harmed me."

"Where did you bury him, Elizabeth? We should return, put a marker down to remember him." It was a sweet gesture.

"I didn't. I buried him at sea. I sent him to his father."

It seemed fitting. Elizabeth looked into his eyes then and he noticed that something had broken through, a little bit of light chasing away the haunted look that had been there since he first saw her on the island. She suddenly reached out and hugged him. It was an innocent gesture, worthy of their conversation about the death of an innocent child.

He held her and murmured how sorry he was into her hair. If he had just gone back…if he hadn't left her there…if…if…if….

No, thinking about what _might_ have been was dangerous, thoughts he had to put out of his mind.

"More rum?"

She backed away from him. "I have plenty." She took another swig. Her heart laid bare, she was suddenly awkward, something Jack quickly recognized and sought to remedy.

From there, their conversation turned to more inane subjects, anything to stay away from the more dangerous area of feelings, of wants and needs. She had told him everything he needed to know about her son and she felt lighter for it. Someone else could share her burden.

She hadn't realized how much she needed that, how much she needed someone to know his name, his personality, even his death. His father could never have been there for them, would never know him, but Jack could know him through her. It didn't matter that Jack was not the fatherly type and in fact, most likely the type to turn tail and run if he discovered he had gotten a woman pregnant. But he cared enough to ask, to listen, and to allow her to cry on his shoulder.

That was all she needed right now. Taking another swig of rum, she toasted the night, the _Bonny Lass_ , and even the _Pearl_ with Jack. She smiled her first real smile since James had died, and turned her thoughts to lighter subjects for the remainder of the night.


	26. Chapter 25

** Chapter 25 **

She awoke to blinding pain. Throwing her hands up over her eyes, she rolled to her side and pulled the covers over her head. _Sleep…just go back to sleep and the pain will stop. It has to go away. I can't live with this amount of pain…_

She groaned and a soft chuckle reached her ears. Stiffening, she threw the cover back. "Jack." His name came out as more of a croak. Her throat was sore, her voice hoarse.

"Good morning, love."

_Morning…_ Oh God, what had she done? "It's morning?" she asked stupidly.

"Why yes it is!" Jack declared brightly.

"Not so loud," Elizabeth groaned, pulling the covers back over her head.

"Ah, Lizzie, you need to learn to hold your alcohol properly if you're gonna be captain of a pirate ship." He chuckled again.

She pulled the covers down and pushed herself up on her elbows. She focused her eyes on Jack for the first time that morning. Well, she tried to focus her eyes on him at least, but his face swam before her eyes and she lowered herself back to the bed with another groan. "How much _did_ I drink last night?"

Jack held up an empty bottle and Elizabeth regarded it in silence. "I drank twice as much and you don't see _me_ lolling around in the captain's bed, now do you?"

The words got their proper reaction. Elizabeth sat up and finally looked around the room, realizing where she was: the inner sanctum of Jack's cabin. Somehow their conversation in the outer room had ended up here. _Oh dear_. "Jack…we didn't…you know?"

"You mean _fornicate_ , Lizzie?" He was up from his seat nearby, his face coming too close to hers with the words.

Elizabeth gagged. "You smell horrid. Get away." She pushed at his shoulders, relieved when he did as she asked.

"So do you, love." The words were said with a grin. She just looked at him, that infamous haughty Elizabeth Swann look, and Jack caved. "No we did not. Don't look so relieved, love. I'm not that horrible, am I?"

She started to open her mouth to say something cutting when she realized by the tone of his voice that he was teasing her. She smiled. "How did I end up here?"

"Unfortunately that's a rather uninteresting story. You passed out over the desk in the other room. I couldn't just have you sleep the night away there." Apparently Jack had deposited her on the bed and tucked her in. He hadn't removed a bit of clothes, hadn't attempted any play on her virtue, such as it was.

"Where did you sleep last night?" The question was out before she could take it back.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that question?" Jack's looked was pointed.

"Apparently not, but now that I've asked…"

"It's a large bed." She looked around her. It was much larger than the narrow bunk in her closet of a cabin. It could easily fit two people. She turned to stare at Jack. "I didn't touch you," he said by way of apology.

"You slept _here_ , in this bed…with me?" She sounded outraged.

"I wasn't going to sleep on the floor."

"You should have!" Elizabeth shouted and felt her head explode in pain.

"You should rest," Jack said, standing.

"Here?" Elizabeth squeaked.

"Yes, here. It's already mid-morning. The crew is no doubt up and about and taking care of the ship. Do you want to walk out of here and have them all realize where you spent the night?"

The implication was clear. "I'll stay."

"Good girl! Sleep off the pain." Jack stood and quickly removed himself from the room, shutting the curtain behind him.

Alone in his cabin, Elizabeth curled back under the blankets and fell into a painless sleep.

* * *

 

"How close are we, Cap'n?" Gibbs handed over the helm to Jack as he spoke.

"Close, Mr. Gibbs. We should be there tomorrow afternoon."

"That soon, sir?"

"We've made good time." Jack turned the wheel slightly, getting a feel for how the wind was currently affecting the sails.

"We always do when yer around." Gibbs sounded suitably impressed.

Jack just smiled. There was no use denying the truth.

"And Miss Elizabeth…" Gibbs ventured.

"Is currently sleeping off a massive headache in my cabin."

"Ya got her drunk last night, Jack?" Gibbs sounded shocked and perhaps a little bit worried. Jack had noticed his strange way of acting like this lately. It seemed the older man had taken over a bit of a fatherly role when it came to Elizabeth. Her own father had died some time ago at the hands of Cutler Beckett, the evil former head of the East India Trading Company. Gibbs had known Elizabeth since she was quite young and his fatherly feelings toward her no doubt stemmed from that.

"No I did _not_ get her drunk, Mr. Gibbs." Jack chuckled. "She got _herself_ drunk. Drank a whole bottle of rum, she did."

"A whole bottle sir? What the bloody hell did ya do to her?"

"Nothing, Mr. Gibbs. You seem to want to paint me in a rather bad light." Gibbs shrugged, his look embarrassed. "She told me about James."

"James, sir?"

"Not bloody Norrington, Gibbs." It had been his first thought as well and he remembered being rather embarrassed at the silly mistake.

"Oh…" He paused and realization dawned. "The child?"

Jack nodded. "She told me it all, everything, his life and death. She talked for hours, Gibbs, let it all out, and I sat and listened. To _every blasted word_. She needed the rum after that. I did as well." The last was said with a bit of humour.

Jack and Gibbs fell quiet for a time, listening to the men around them as they scrubbed the ship and readied it for the last part of this journey. Jack had been very explicit with the crew. _Do not damage the Pearl_. It was all he asked of his incompetent crew. They were surprised by that instruction as they expected to be blowing a ship into the depths of Davy Jones' Locker. They were reassured when Jack informed them that the island they were going to was full of ancient Aztec treasure. Each man would be allowed to take as much as he could carry and some were working diligently on sewing bags to carry extra treasure.

"So what is the plan once we get there, Cap'n?" Gibbs knew he was treading in deep water with a question like that. Jack rarely revealed his plans and Gibbs often wondered if he _had_ any real plans. Everything always seemed to come together in the end, but it generally seemed rather haphazardly put together. Jack's luck was almost supernatural.

"I have one in my mind."

"And…"

"And you'll find out when we get there."

Gibbs threw his hands up in the air. "Cap'n if ya don't mind, I _am_ yer First Mate. Doesn't that give me the privilege to know _something_ about what we're goin' ta get into?"

"No." The statement was firm. But then he amended it. "Even I don't know exactly what we're going to get into here. I admit, I'm a little lost as to _why_ dear Hector would return to the Isla de Muerta now. What purpose could he have here? It seems unlikely that it is _just_ about treasure."

The sentiment echoed Gibbs' earlier thoughts about the situation and he opted to let it go. "If'n ya don't mind sir, I think I'll retire to my cabin."

Jack nodded, eyes on the horizon.

Gibbs slipped away silently, nodding to the men as he retreated to the silence of his cabin.

* * *

 

Elizabeth woke up some hours later, mouth incredibly dry but head certainly much less painful than when she had fallen asleep. She opened her eyes slowly, surprised to find it was almost completely dark in the cabin. Much of the day had passed while she slept. She must have needed it. If she were to be completely honest, she would have to admit that she had had very little sleep over the last few weeks. In fact, it was likely she hadn't slept well at all since her son had died.

With darkness coming, she knew she would be able to leave Jack's cabin and retire to her own, spend some time with Sammy, maybe even get some more fresh air. She pushed herself out of the bed, found a mirror, and straightened her hair. The plait she usually kept it in had come undone during her long hours of sleep, so she finger combed it and redid it. She had once had lady's maids who did her hair in elaborate styles. Now, after some years of doing it on her own, she was able to quickly tie it back in a plait. She didn't need anything fancier. It was utilitarian. It kept her hair out of her eyes and out of the way of attackers. What more did she need out of a hairstyle?

When she stepped out into the outer part of the cabin, she found Jack leaning over his desk, studying a map. The rustling of the curtain startled him and he shot up from his seat, turning to face her with his hand on his pistol.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly.

He sat down slowly. "I forgot you were in here."

"I can remedy that." She started to head toward the door. He stopped her with a hand on her upper arm.

"Night watch begins soon. You can leave then, if you so desire. Sit down." He indicated the chair and went to sit on the chest, the only other suitable place to rest in the room. "Are you hungry?"

"Famished, actually." Jack offered to get them something to eat and departed from the cabin for a time. He returned shortly bearing a tray of fruit, bread, and water. Sammy followed him into the room, obviously looking for a bite to eat as well. Jack gave the dog a sheepish look. "I thought you might want to see him. Bradshaw has been taking care of him." Elizabeth smiled at that. Bradshaw was a serious young man, far too old for his years. He had taken an instant liking to her little three-legged companion. They had something in common, after all. Bradshaw had lost an arm in a fight with a Spanish frigate some time ago. He had lived, but he hadn't been sure how to get through life with only one arm. Sammy seemed to help him somehow.

They ate in silence for a time before Elizabeth finally broke it. "Do you think I'm ready to be captain of my own vessel?" She knew they were close to the Isla de Muerta, that soon they would face Barbossa and that, just as luck always came to Jack, they would reclaim the _Pearl_. She would take over the _Bonny Lass_ and bid farewell to Jack and Gibbs.

She didn't like that last thought. She wasn't ready to say goodbye to Jack. Their friendship was slowly rebuilding and she had noticed lately that there was a sort of closeness between them that spoke of a shared history and, perhaps, something more than she wanted to admit right now.

"I think you're ready." His eyes were sincere and soft. She reached out a hand and was surprised when his met hers, grasped it tightly. "You learned the rudiments from me. That's all you ever needed from me, Elizabeth. You have the rest inside of you. The men respect you because of how you carry yourself. You are connected to the sea. It's something I recognized in you from the moment I first met you. You're meant to be a pirate. You always were. It's that quality and that quality alone that makes a good pirate captain. The rest can be learned by anyone. It takes a certain special _something_ to be a good captain."

"And _I_ have that?" Elizabeth's voice was incredulous.

Jack nodded and released her hand. "Do you doubt it?"

"Sometimes…most of the time, even."

"You shouldn't. Trust this old sea dog." He winked at her.

"You're not that old." She laughed and shoved his shoulder lightly.

"Ancient," he said in response.

"I thought that was your father." She watched his eyes darkened slightly just moments before he turned away from her. _Bugger_. The word echoed something she often heard from Jack himself. "Jack, what happened between you two?"

Jack grimaced, but did not turn back to look at her. "That is none of your business, Miss Swann."

"It's 'Miss Swann' now, is it? What am I to you, Jack?" He called her by several names. Miss Swann…when he wished to distance himself from her. She barely noted he never called her Mrs. Turner. Elizabeth…her given name, her real name. It seemed to be the name he called her when he was being his most genuine. Lizzie…a nickname no one else called her by. She was still trying to figure out what that name meant. He used it when he was acting flirtatious and seductive, but he used it at other times too. Sometimes she thought he simply preferred Lizzie to the others and that was why he used it.

He turned to her then and his eyes were wide. He didn't respond. He seemed not to be able to.

Elizabeth stood. "It's dark, Jack. I think it's time I take my leave." He stared for a moment longer before responding.

"Oh…yes. So it is!" He offered to duck out first, make sure no one was around, and after doing just that, Elizabeth left quietly. There were no more words between them that night and Elizabeth retired to her cabin with confusion in her heart. He had never answered her question. She didn't quite know what to make of that.


	27. Chapter 26

** Chapter 26 **

"So you decided to stay, eh?" Jack looked down at the little dog, chuckling as he shut the door behind Elizabeth. "So she wants to know what she is to me." He crossed to his desk and sat down. Sammy followed him, raising himself on his hind legs and putting his paws on Jack's knees. "You know, Sammy, if I had the answer to that question, I'd, well, I'd be something at least. Happier having some idea what the bloody hell was going on."

The dog whined. "I know. I shouldn't use such language. But this is just between us guys, right?" He winked at the dog and tried hard not to think about the fact that he was, in actuality, talking to a dog. "I don't _know_ what is going on. I want to hate her. Yes, I know. That isn't very nice, Jack." He said the last in a high-pitched voice, surely reminiscent of someone's mother somewhere. "But she killed me. Don't cock your head like that! I know it seems odd that she killed me seeing as how I am currently actually _not dead_. But she did, ol' boy. She tied me to a mast and sent me down to the depths of Davy Jones' Locker. And she did it all by her onesies."

Jack nodded sagely at the dog. "And do you know how she killed me? No? She hasn't told you that story? She seduced me to my death with a kiss. I've heard men refer to women as 'the kiss of death,' but I had never expected it to be so literal."

The dog sat back down, eyes staring up intently at Jack. He had the uncanny feeling that the little three-legged creature would return to his master and tell her all he had learned from Jack. "Do you understand me, boy?" Jack half expected the dog to nod. When he didn't, he laughed in consternation.

"Well, I don't quite know what to do about her. She runs hot and cold. I _know_ , not with you. With me, you scruffy little mangy cur." He knew something wasn't quite right in his mind as he swore the dog wore an offended look. "Sorry. May I continue?" At the dog's silence, he decided he could. "One moment she's flirting with me, playing with me, hell, even _seducing_ me. And the next she's running off, offended, as if _I_ did something wrong. You know what the one thing she does _not_ seem to do, Sammy? That's right. She never seems to remind me that she's actually a married woman. I know she is. But somehow, when the man can't even set foot on land, when he can't even come to her whenever he wants, it's easy to forget. I still call her Miss Swann. And it doesn't even bother her that I don't call her Mrs. Turner."

Therein lay the dilemma. She was married, yet seemed to continuously ignore that idea. She had said she had betrayed Will, had doomed him to a lifetime as Calypso's servant. All for a kiss…ok, a little more than a kiss…and more than once. But yet, she had done it time and time again, had admitted that she wanted to do even more with him.

There was an attraction there, one even Jack could not figure out. One, he was afraid, might doom them yet again.

"Barbossa is not after treasure here." He changed the subject. The dog did not seem to mind. "That much I know. I know there's quite a bit left, but after what happened the _last_ time he took things from that island, I can't imagine he'd risk it again. There's a lot of treasure out there for a pirate to go after." He doubted Barbossa would want to live out his undead curse yet again. "There's something else. I just wish I knew what." He had minor ideas as to a general plan, but not knowing what they were going to walk into meant he was not able to formulate a plan that took into account every eventuality. "We're going to be relying on a hell of a lot of luck, my boy."

The truth. The complete and unvarnished truth. Captain Jack Sparrow did not know what the hell he was doing this time. He just hoped that whatever he decided on did not get them killed in the end.

* * *

 

"Land ho!" The shout came from far up in the crow's nest. Jack grabbed his spyglass and strode to the fore of the ship. Indeed, there was land. The Isla de Muerta. Not really the place Jack wanted to return to…too many memories. He did actually kill Barbossa here though, so he could smile fondly on _that_ memory at least.

_Ahhh Barbossa_. The man had taken off with his _Pearl_ one too many times. Actually, he had taken off with it three too many times if he wanted to be exact. _Bugger_. She was here somewhere. He could almost hear her calling to him, the siren song of a ship with a will of her own. He had chosen the location correctly. His compass, which was still in Elizabeth's possession now that he thought of it, was never wrong. It knew where the _Pearl_ was.

"She's here somewhere, isn't she?" Elizabeth came up quietly behind him.

Jack nodded. "Can you feel it? The air hums when she's around."

"You're connected to her."

He remained quiet, not acknowledging her question entirely. There was indeed a connection between him and the _Pearl_. How could there not be? They had died together twice and had been resurrected together twice. No time in history had a captain ever been so connected with his ship. And then there was Elizabeth. Somehow she was connected in with him, with the _Pearl_. That second time they went down together he went at her behest. He would have abandoned the _Pearl_ to the depths.

Yet…he hadn't. They had gone to Davy Jones' Locker as a pair yet again.

Elizabeth? Had she known? Had the _Pearl_ somehow spoken to her and directed her actions.

"You knew, didn't you?" He suddenly turned to her and his eyes were excited, too bright.

"I did, Jack. I always knew." The words were sincere and soft.

"I had to go down with the ship, with my girl." Elizabeth nodded, opting not to say anything to what Jack was saying. He had just realized the truth, something even she hadn't known herself. "And the kiss?" he asked.

"Not the _Pearl_ 's directions, I can assure you," she said with a laugh. "Curiosity, I suppose. You proved you were a good man, Jack. I proved that I _did_ want to taste it." It was as close to a confession as he would ever get out of her.

"Are you ready to face Barbossa, love?" Jack asked, giving her a sidelong glance.

"Aye, captain!" The first words were upbeat, but then her brow crinkled. "I think. He was…almost a friend, once." That much was true, she suddenly realized. Barbossa had been an enemy at first, a filthy old pirate who scared her half to death. Then they had been fighting a common enemy. He had married she and Will. They had parted on good terms. Even _Jack_ had parted on good terms with him, sailing off to Tortuga together where Barbossa was supposed to find a new ship and crew. Instead, he had stolen Jack's while he was away in the town somewhere.

The man never would learn. Jack and the _Pearl_ belonged together.

"I know he was, love. But we can't let that get in the way, now can we?" He winked at her. "Now come on!" He walked away and got several steps away before he realized she wasn't following him. He turned back to her, a snappy motion on one heel.

"Plan?" she asked, the word deliberate.

"Ah yes, those pesky things. First we have to find out what's going on. We're all set." He seemed rather distracted, looking beyond her somewhere. Finally, he just grasped her and turned her in the direction he wanted her to head. "Gibbs has the boat ready. We're heading in."

"That's it, Jack?" She stopped in her path and rounded on him.

"That's it!" His voice was bright and his hand moved upward into the air. He sniffed as if annoyed by her question. "We're investigating, my dear Miss Swann." He moved past her and she had little choice but to follow him to where the boat had been lowered into the sea.

* * *

 

The boat Jack, Elizabeth, and Gibbs were in had entered into the darkness of the cavern. It was a strange feeling, returning here, Elizabeth suddenly realized. The last time she had come here she had come first as a prisoner of Barbossa and his crew and then she had come over on her own to rescue Jack…or Will…or someone.

The cool dampness of the cavern quickly eased its way into her bones and left her feeling unsettled. "Something's not right here," she said darkly.

Gibbs looked alarmed. Jack looked unbothered. Elizabeth wanted to scream.

"Listen to me, Jack. We need to go back…now. There is a darkness here that we cannot fight against. I know you want the _Pearl_ , but there has to be another way." Her voice was low, frantic. She moved onto her knees in the boat, jostling it slightly. "Jack…please…turn back."

Jack looked down at her and his eyes glittered strangely. They looked…wicked, if Elizabeth could describe them accurately. "We keep going," he said quietly and continued rowing.

"Jack, she's right. We need to go back." Gibbs stopped rowing. "I can feel it too. There's a darkness here. I don't like it."

Something just wasn’t _right_. There was no reason for feeling the way they did. The path into the cavern was quiet. The water splashed against the sides of their tiny boat with little sound as it glided through. Elizabeth watched water drip off the sides of the cavern. It was damp, cold, silent as the grave.

_Silent_ …

"Jack," Elizabeth suddenly said. She crawled back through the boat, ended up at his feet and kneeled to put her hands on his knees. "Jack…listen to me. Think about this for a moment. If Barbossa were here, celebrating with his men, why don't we hear anything?"

"Aye! She's onto somethin' Jack." Gibbs toss his oars into the boat and leaned forward.

Jack sniffed, his look dismissive. "It looks like I'll have to be the one to keep rowing then since you lot have slacked off from your duties."

"Jack. Listen to her!" Gibbs very nearly shouted.

Jack stopped rowing long enough to lean forward and throw the other sets of oars at Gibbs. Gibbs caught them in the gut, letting out a soft grunt when they hit. "Damn you, Mr. Gibbs! We continue forward! Now _row_ or I shall be forced to toss you overboard."

Gibbs picked up the oars and gave Elizabeth a look before starting to row. He wouldn't go against Jack. She had no choice but to retreat to her seat and wait for whatever came.

The darkness would overtake them. She knew it would. It was almost palpable. The further they went into the cavern, the closer they got to the cursed Aztec gold they got, the faster Elizabeth's heart beat and the more silent it got. The silence was almost overwhelming and she actually reached up to put her hands over her ears.

Gibbs eyed her strangely. Jack ignored it, intent on rowing their way into whatever they were about to face. As they rounded the corner, Elizabeth got her first glimpse into what they were getting into. She stared into the strange bluish light of the gigantic cavern, looked past all the gold and jewels strewn across the ground and gasped. "We need to get out of here," she muttered, looking to Jack. He still had that same, predatory look on his face.

_This is definitely not good…_


	28. Chapter 27

** Chapter 27 **

They had found Barbossa. Jack tittered with glee. He bounded out of the boat, tossing his oars in as he landed in a foot of water. "Well, well, Hector. Fancy meeting you here!"

Elizabeth couldn't look away from the horrible scene around her. It was like some sort of surreal nightmare coming true. Barbossa was sitting on a high-backed chair next to the chest of Aztec gold. The strange light of the cavern arched over him, leaving just his face exposed, the rest in partial darkness. He was not moving. And she would not expect him to, for she could just barely make out a knife sticking out of his chest. Jack didn't seem to notice this.

Even worse, he didn't seem to notice all the bodies littering the ground in front of them. They all lay face down, frozen, faces pressed into the mud and rock and water. Everyone was _dead_. And Jack was getting out of the boat and talking as conversationally to a dead man as he would to her.

Elizabeth exchanged a look with Gibbs and noticed his eyes were as dark and horrified as hers were. "Do you recognize them?" Elizabeth whispered to the older man, sweeping her arm out to indicate the bodies.

"Aye, missy. They all be part of Barbossa's crew." She shuddered. The whole crew? Dead? She probably knew some of the men herself, people she had worked tirelessly with first to rescue Jack and then to fight the East India Trading Company.

"Do we leave?" Elizabeth's voice was low, her body wracked with shivers she couldn't seem to stop. Jack was progressing up the small rise to where Barbossa was pinned to the chair.

Gibbs started to nod. "Wait. Silence."

She stopped moving and was suddenly aware of Jack's voice, coming to her softly from a distance. Alarmed, her eyes snapped to Gibbs'. "Is he…talking to himself?"

"It sounds like he's carrying on a conversation with Barbossa."

She nodded. What was going on here? Jack had been fine when they were on the ship, but the trip in had found him increasingly agitated. She had thought it was due to his finally being able to get the _Pearl_ back, that he was excited and worried and all the things that went along with the moments before a fight.

But there was more…

So much more…

"Jack's daft, but he's not _that_ daft," Gibbs said darkly.

Elizabeth agreed and said the same thing she had been saying ever since she had gotten the first sense of darkness in the cavern. "Something's not right here." She had been here before and while it had been frightening, the place itself did not hold any sort of darkness. Only Barbossa had lost his life then, not an entire crew of men and their captain. But now there was a sense of complete and utter _wrongness_ here.

"We need to get out of here." Gibbs picked up his oars and started turning the boat away from the horrible sight beyond them. Elizabeth put her hand on one of the oars.

"We can't just leave Jack!" Her voice was unnaturally loud as it echoed through the cavern.

"Those who fall behind are left behind," Gibbs said as if repeating something he had learned by rote.

"Hang the code!" Elizabeth shouted at him. _You're pirates_ …She had said that before, sometime, some life ago. God, how long ago _had_ that been? She pressed a hand to her temple.

Gibbs shook his head, sadly remembering that lifetime ago. "Not this time." When he started rowing again, Elizabeth stood, rocking the boat precariously.

"I'm not leaving Jack." Her voice was low, fervent, anxious. "I left him once before. I abandoned him to Davy Jones and his Locker. I forced him to meet his doom, chained to his beloved _Black Pearl_. I tricked him after he had proved he was a good man. But not this time, Mr. Gibbs. _Not this time_. This time I leave here with Jack. Or I don't leave here at all."

She stepped out of the boat, landing quietly in the water to its side. Gibbs gave her one last look and started rowing it back out to the outside world. "Damn you, you coward."

"He was not meant to be here." The strange voice came from behind her and she turned quickly to peer into the darkness. She could only see the darkness there, thick and heavy, but then a form slowly came out of it. She hadn't seen it at first, just one type of blackness buried within another.

"Calypso," she breathed. The sea goddess had taken the form of Tia Dalma again. Or at least, Elizabeth assumed she had. It may just be that _she_ saw her this way because it was how she thought of her.

"Do not think him a coward," the goddess continued, coming to stand next to Elizabeth. "He is only doing what he was meant to do." The strange cadence of her voice managed to put Elizabeth strangely at ease. She could feel the tension drain out of her, felt her shoulders relax.

"Come, Pirate King. There is much to discuss." Calypso disappeared into the shadows.

"Wait…what about Jack?" Elizabeth looked back up to see Jack still carrying on a conversation with the dead Barbossa.

"He has his own demons to fight, child. Let him fight them." Drawn along with the goddess almost as if she had no will, Elizabeth turned and followed. She managed to twist her head to the side one last time and watched Jack until the darkness swallowed her.

* * *

 

"Why hello there, Hector." Jack was walking up the slight rise. His voice was conversational, pitched as if he and Barbossa were the best of friends, as if they were just a couple of men who happened to run into each other. He seemed to ignore the fact that Barbossa was frozen to the spot and that he was, in fact, not talking. One-sided conversations were, ultimately, the easiest, after all.

"It seems rather ironic that we should meet here again, the place that started everything." Not a word from Barbossa. "I mean, it was here that you first found yourself under that little curse. And it was here where I first killed you. And it was here where we all first met up with Elizabeth and her eunuch…I mean…Will." He smiled and continued on, even though there was no response from the man on the chair. "It's where I thought it all ended. But it apparently hasn't ended. For we're back here…"

"What on earth are ya talkin' about there Jack?" Barbossa's voice cut through Jack's little tirade.

"Ah! Yer awake." Jack clapped his hands together before frowning down at his former first mate. "I don't know how you can sleep at a time like this. 'Tis shameful, it is. Loungin' around like you don't have a care in the world."

"What are ye doin' here, Jack?" Barbossa seemed strangely confused and Jack stood back to stare at him for a moment.

"Me ship…me _Pearl_. Where is she, Hector?" Jack pulled out his sword and trained it on Barbossa.

Barbossa didn't respond. He just stared at Jack, dark eyes hidden somewhere in the shade of his enormous hat.

"Get up, you filthy cur!" Jack shouted at him.

"In case ya haven't noticed, Jack, I can't move from here. I'm pinned to the blasted chair."

Jack lowered his sword and stepped a little bit closer, finally actually _really_ taking notice of Barbossa's condition. "Run through? How are you still alive?" His eyes flitted warily to the chest of gold next to him.

"Not through the gold, of that much I can assure ye."

"How?" Jack's voice was flat.

"If I knew that, d'ye think I'd be havin' this conversation with the likes 'o ye?"

Jack shrugged. _Perhaps not_.

Immortality through a curse. It seemed to linger at this place. First the gold and now…something. _Bugger_. Elizabeth had been right. There was something wrong here.

_Elizabeth_. He turned around to find her, searched through the darkness. Gone. The boat had disappeared. Gibbs and Elizabeth were both gone, likely heading back to the _Bonny Lass_. He was on his own.

"She's not on yer boat, Jack." He turned back to look at Barbossa.

"Ship…she's a _ship_." He sniffed.

"I don't mean the _Pearl_. That's _my_ ship."

Jack raised an eyebrow and turned from him. "Seeing as how you are not _on_ my ship, nor the captain of my ship, and are in actuality currently otherwise occupied with being pinned to a chair, while being dead yet not dead, I would say the ship is fair game."

Barbossa rolled his eyes. Jack smirked.

"Don't ye want to know where the fair lady is?" Barbossa's voice was needling.

"Nope. I'm better off without her." He knew it was a lie. So did Barbossa.

"Oh come now, Jack. Ye know that's not true. I know that's not true. Future captain of the _Bonny Lass_ , the girl ye trained yerself, two peas in a pod an' all that nonsense?" Barbossa tried to lean forward, struggling with the attempt.

Jack's eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

* * *

 

Almost as soon as Elizabeth stepped into the darkness, she found herself standing on the beach. She blinked against the harshness of the sudden light and shaded her eyes against it. Calypso was nowhere to be found.

"Calypso?" she asked hesitantly. The sea responded to her voice, moving suddenly, violently. It overtook her then, a huge wave coming up and over her head. She did not drown in it. She had no idea how. It washed over her, dragged her out to sea. She felt herself twirling into the darkness, shifting with the motions of the sea.

And then she stopped.

And it was light.

She was still in the water. She opened her mouth to scream, to take a breath, knowing she would drown and knowing she could not stop herself.

She breathed. Deeply and easily as if she were on land. Her eyes widened.

"You have been unfaithful, Elizabeth Turner."

Elizabeth turned, her braid floating out and around hers. She pushed it out of the way as her eyes fell on Calypso's form.

"It was a kiss." The words were sucked out of her mouth and into the water. She could see the ripple of sound moving through the water.

Calypso cocked her head to the side as the ripple reached her. It was a strange way to communicate, letting the water carry the words. "Would yer William think the same thing?"

Elizabeth blinked. She had no answer to that.

"I see you have nothing to say."

Elizabeth shook her head quickly. "I don't know," she whispered. The words were magnified strangely by the water around them. Is this what it was like for those who lived under the sea? Is this what it was like for Will whenever the _Dutchman_ went beneath the surface of the sea?

"I think you do."

Elizabeth looked at her feet. Calypso's voice was accusatory, harsh, but honest. "Will would hate me for it." She remembered the last time she had been unfaithful, the one kiss she had shared with Jack before her hasty marriage to Will, before her son, before any of this happened. Will had immediately distanced himself from her, had told her could not trust her.

Did he ever learn to trust her? She wasn't sure. She was even less sure if he expected her to be faithful. She had reassured him that she didn't love Jack…but…did she really reassure him? She remembered accusing Will of believing she loved Jack…but not telling him she didn't actually love him. She remembered trying to stop Will's proposal, shocked that he would ask such a thing in the midst of a battle. She hadn't been able to and she had married him anyway. She remembered her consternation as she realized she had married the new captain of the _Dutchman_ , that her new husband couldn't spend time on land but once every ten years.

She had been strangely fine with it, feeling comfortable and at ease with her life. That was before she had been abandoned to her island. The whole world had been in front of her.

Will would have suffocated her.

She didn't know how she knew that. She just did. He was now the captain of the _Dutchman_ , bound to the sea by Calypso's doing, given the job of ferrying souls lost at sea to the afterlife. But that was not what Will had wanted. A small house, children, a provincial life. She had wanted that…once.

But then she had met Jack, had gotten her first real taste of piracy. And it had changed her, created in her that longing of the sea she had only sensed inside her before.

Jack…he had changed everything. She glanced down at the compass, that strange magical item. It was so innocent looking, a compass like any other. Yet inside it was the one thing that could show her what she herself didn't know if she wanted to admit she wanted.

"You are unfaithful in yer mind as well as yer body, Elizabeth Turner." The soft clicks she made of disapproval were like pistol shots in the water.

"I have to control my thoughts as well as my body?" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"Yer thoughts are very important. And you, Elizabeth _Turner_ …" Her voice turned to a purr. "…you cannot stop thinkin' of witty Jack."

The words cut through her, left her gasping. The truth. The plain, unvarnished truth. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about Jack from the first moment she had read about him. Calypso was right and Elizabeth should hate her for it. She felt something she might able to define as hatred, somewhere deep inside her, moving through her. Her hand went to her belt of its own accord, drew out her pistol, raised it high. Her eyes met the goddess'. Calypso just raised her hands in a gesture of defeat.

Elizabeth held the pistol with deadly steadiness. She didn't flinch when Calypso suddenly lowered her arms. It was a quick gesture, but Elizabeth immediately heard the answering rumble, immediately felt the sea respond in kind.


	29. Chapter 28

** Chapter 28 **

Barbossa knew things about his private life, private conversations, that no one else could possibly know. _How?_ Had Elizabeth told him what he had said to her?

"No." Barbossa's voice startled him.

"No? No to what?" Jack's eyebrows drew low over his eyes.

"Ya haven't figured it out yet?" The words sounded exasperated.

"Of course I have," Jack snapped.

"Really, Jack? I don't think yer mind is quite so swift right now. Thinkin' too much about other things, ye are." He was trying to get something out of him. Jack pressed his fingers to his temples. Barbossa was right about one thing at least. Jack's mind was _not_ working so well at the moment. His thoughts felt muddled, slow, seeping through his mind like icy water. His mind was frozen. Stuck.

He was as stuck as he'd ever been.

Well, maybe not _that_ stuck. Being chained to his ship was probably _more_ stuck than his mind currently was.

Barbossa chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?" Jack's voice sounded offended. It only made the man stuck to the chair laugh even harder. "You're starting to annoy me, mate."

"Am I now, Jack?"

Jack squinted his eyes at the other man. There was something he was sensing about the situation that just wasn't right, that was completely off. He couldn't figure it out. Something just did _not_ add up the way it should.

"What does it say about a man that another man's silence should bother him so?"

"It does _not_ bother me." Jack turned a dismissive shoulder to the other man.

Barbossa remained silent.

Jack did as well. For a time. And then he turned back, raised one hand in the air, and delicately scratched above one eyebrow. The edges of his vision were blurry, the edges of his mind even more so. _What to do?_ He knew, somewhere inside him, that he was supposed to _do_ something. And that something did not consist of his standing on top of a hill in a strange cavern, conversing with a dead man while others lay dead around him.

He was not here to cause the deaths.

What did they mean? What did they signify?

What was he supposed to do?

_Something_ …

His mind shifted suddenly and he fixed Barbossa with a harsh stare, eyes boring through him. The move Jack made was sudden, well worthy of his quick reflexes and lithe grace. He grasped the knife that was pinning Barbossa to the chair and pulled. The knife flew out of his hand as he did so, landing with a clatter somewhere down below them both. He was surprised at the ease at which it slid out of the man.

If it were that easy to remove, why hadn't Barbossa done it himself?

"Finally!" Barbossa roared, moving quickly to his feet. Jack drew his sword in response.

"I don't think so, mate." Jack's smile would have chilled even the stoutest of souls. Barbossa, however, just continued grinning at him.

"Do ya think I'm worried about ya, Jack?" He rolled his eyes. "Do ya think I'm _alive_ , Jack?"

There was no need to point out the obvious, that Barbossa had been pinned to the chair, run through with a knife, yet he was talking as if nothing were wrong with him. He had even seemed comfortable, though obviously unable to move from his strange position. _Nothing makes sense…_

Jack shrugged. "Yes, but I'm Captain Jack Sparrow…savvy?" Without another word, Jack lunged forward with his sword. Barbossa, still with that same grin, parried easily and leapt back.

Jack strode forward, each thrust of his sword being met by Barbossa's. It was all too easy for Barbossa, who nearly yawned with boredom at each parry. Frustrated, Jack lunged forward but quickly withdrew, darting around Barbossa's other side and smacking him with the flat of the sword as he moved by him.

Barbossa laughed.

Jack's grin froze on his face as he suddenly became aware of an odd noise. He blinked. Once. Twice. Just to make sure his eyes were not deceiving him. Nothing in this odd place made sense. After dealing with undead pirates, Davy Jones and his crew, the Locker, and a goddess, one would think Jack would be used to anything. But it didn't seem to matter. Each new oddity always left him feeling a little unsettled. Why did he always seem to be the pirate who got mixed up in the supernatural? He lived for excitement, for adventure, that much was true. But sometimes he got to thinking. A little bit of adventure could go a long way.

Barbossa's crew members were all standing, all frozen in place, all staring at him with ravenous looks. Their swords were still at their sides, held onto by unmoving hands. He recognized some of them, but noticed that various members of his former crew were missing. Where was Cotton? Marty? The two crazy former Navy men who had chosen to join is crew after the defeat of the East India Trading Company? Hell, where was Cotton's parrot with its strange way of speaking for the mute man?

A slight breeze ruffled Jack's hair, tickled his nose. His eyebrows lowered. The breeze picked up slowly, little by little gaining speed. Jack's eyes shot to meet Barbossa's.

And then everything erupted into chaos. The wind shot through the cavern like a hurricane, nearly leveling everything in its path. Jack fell back onto the ground, landing hard on his behind when the wind hit him. It took his breath away and he shaded his eyes to keep the debris it had picked up from getting into them.

Barbossa laughed and Jack looked up to see him still standing. He looked out at the men who were dead yet not dead and noted that they were still standing as well. Only Jack was affected by the winds. Only Jack seemed to notice them. _Bugger_.

The men had finally come unfrozen and they were starting to advance slowly toward him. The wind blew out its last bit of energy, the dust settling around them noiselessly after it had gone. When the last wisp had disappeared, the men blinked and turned to look at each other. Everyone was frozen in time for one last moment and then one man raised his sword and turned to the man next to him. With his first thrust, he ran the shocked man through.

His body dropping to the ground, the dull thud in the midst of such overwhelming silence, was the catalyst. The room erupted into noise, screams, swords clanging against each other, the shouts of the men as swords hit home. Only Barbossa seemed removed from it. He still stood where he had during the wind burst. And he laughed…laughed as if there were some sort of humour to be found in the horrible scene.

Jack crept away, stayed low to the ground, trying to stay out of Barbossa's line of vision.

It didn't work.

A sword crashed down in front of him, halting his escape. _Bugger_. Jack looked up at the other man, irked at the grin that just would _not_ disappear off his face.

"Where ya goin', Jack?" The amusement he felt was obvious.

Jack grimaced and stood, plucking Barbossa's sword lightly in two fingers and thrusting it aside. "I thought I'd just leave you and your men to this distasteful little fight." He backed up slightly.

Barbossa said nothing, just moved his sword so that it was, once again, trained on Jack. He made an odd gesture with his free hand and then suddenly all the men who had been fighting each other just…stopped. _Odd_. Almost as one, they turned to face Barbossa and Jack, their bulging eyes coming to rest on the pair.

Barbossa made another gesture with his hand and moved his sword away from Jack.

Jack cocked his head to the side. _What the…_

The men now moved as if they had a purpose. And that purpose appeared to be something relating to Jack for they all turned as one and started to move toward him. They weren't fast and Jack was. He had that much going for him. But there were a lot more of them than there was of him.

_This is when you could use all those multiple personalities you left in the locker, mate_ …

Why are you thinking?

Don't think…Run!

He did exactly that, dodging the group who, thankfully, moved rather slowly.

Barbossa laughed, the eerie noise echoing throughout the cavern. Jack couldn't escape it, couldn't escape the fifty or so men who were coming after him. They closed in on him as one, slowly backing him into a corner. He scrabbled backward, up a slight rise, found himself back where he had started from, though Barbossa had moved fairly far off in the meantime.

His laughter could still be heard.

The men's angry shouts could still be heard.

Jack backed up a bit further, ran into something more yielding than dirt and more solid than the chair leg. He turned slightly, found himself backed up to a leg…a leg? His eyes moved up from the black leather boot to a knee that was covered in an equally dark material. From there he moved up to the large book sitting on the person's lap. He recognized that book. His brow furrowed. It was familiar somehow.

And then his eyes moved even further upward, recognized the face he was staring at. He cringed when his eyes met those of the older man's. "Oh."

* * *

 

_Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me…_

The words to the song floated all around her as the sea carried her…somewhere. It was strange hearing her own voice echoed in the waves, knowing the song she had sung as a child and then later as an adult, with Jack, was coming back to haunt her. She had wanted to be a pirate. Every story she had read as a child had made her want to be one, much to the chagrin of her father and the multiple governesses they had gone through.

She could hear her child's voice, high and light, so naïve as to what it really meant to be a pirate riding over her lower adult voice. Not that her adult voice was anything but nearly naïve. When she had taught Jack that song, she had had very little idea of what pirates really were.

The two voices melded together, increasing in volume and then in speed. Just that phrase…over and over again… _a pirate's life for me…for me…for me_ …

And then another voice joined the fray. _Pirate_ …Dark bemused eyes.

The water twisted her around one last time, the voices becoming a cacophonous scream.

And suddenly there was silence. The light beyond her closed eyes grew bright. She rolled over and discovered she was lying on sand. The water had let her go. She breathed in the air once more, relishing the lightness of the air in her lungs. The water had been heavy, though strangely breathable. But the air felt wonderful. Light, sweet, refreshing.

Opening her eyes, she looked around her.

"You have to tell him." Calypso's voice came from behind her, but when she looked out to the ocean, she was not there. At least…not there in her human form. The water was, after all, an incarnation of the sea goddess.

"How?" The word came out desperate, a strange harsh scream after the beauty of talking under the sea.

"Watch…" The word drifted off just as a form appeared, walking out of the water. From the distance away that she was, Elizabeth could not see details, but she instinctively knew it was Will. He walked slowly to the edge of the water, the bottoms of his feet still covered. This was closer to land than he was usually allowed in his tenure as the captain of the _Flying Dutchman_. Calypso had given him special license to talk to her.

"Will." She spoke quietly, unsure of herself.

He looked confused. "Elizabeth?" It had been over three years since they last saw each other. He had not changed at all. He looked just as he did the last time she saw him, hair loose around his face, eyes dark and unreadable. She had lost weight, a lot of weight, and her eyes were large and haunted. She could see the changes in herself when she looked into a mirror. She hadn't seen herself in so long – her image in the mirrors at Teague's home had shocked her. She had likely regained some of her former strength during her time on the _Bonny Lass_ , but she knew she still did not look like the Elizabeth he had last seen.

Will held his arms open and Elizabeth went into them willingly, holding him close before stepping away. She could not meet his eyes.

"Elizabeth, why am I here? Why are you here looking like some unwashed waif instead of a great lady?" The words were rushed.

"We had a son, Will."

For a moment, a smile lit his face until the words sunk in. "Had?"

"He died. I sent him to you…"

"The child,…all bundled up…all alone? I didn't know." She saw a tear fall down one cheek. "I should have made the connection."

"Don't be angry with yourself," she quickly admonished him. "There was nothing you could have done. You ferried him to the other side. That is all I ever hoped for." She turned away from him. Was there anything else to say?

_I kissed Jack…I betrayed us…I've doomed you…_

She opened her mouth to try to speak, but words did not come out.

"What are you doing here, Elizabeth?" The words were quiet, almost pained.

_He knows_. "I need to be free, Will."

"You betrayed me." The words were whispered but they hit her like sword thrust to the gut.

She looked away. _I kissed Jack…I betrayed us…_

"With Jack." He looked away from her then, his eyes looking out to sea once more.

_I kissed Jack_ …"I need to be free."


	30. Chapter 29

** Chapter 29 **

The world dissolved into colours, stripes of blue and warm brown, pinpoints of light mixing with darkness. She watched it melt, strangely fascinated by it. Will's face swam before her eyes, melting down, first the top of his head dissolving into what was below and then that dissolved down further, until his whole being had disappeared. It was a strange progression and it happened so slowly that Elizabeth was transfixed.

As soon as he disappeared, the world fell into complete darkness, only a pinpoint of light left.

When everything came back to her, she felt utterly disoriented. A sword came at her and she parried the blow. _Sword_ …She looked dumbly down at the sword she held, knowing a moment ago she wasn't holding it. Another sword flew at her and she parried yet again, driving the man back and running him through cleanly. As he fell to the ground, she took stock of everything around her.

She recognized this battle. She had been here before…sometime…

"Elizabeth!" Will's voice caught her ear and she saw him emerge from the midst of the fighting. She tried to call his name but it was as if someone else were controlling her body. Will rushed to her. "Elizabeth…will you marry me?"

"I don't think now's the best time." She heard the words come out of her own mouth, but they sounded ghostly, a recollection rather than reality.

Will's proposal.

Their hasty marriage. Her eyes flitted away from Will for a moment and saw Calypso standing among the fighting men, looking calm and unruffled as always. The sea goddess nodded at her, her eyes strangely soft and kind.

Will was continuing on, moving on with what he had said all those years ago. His eyes looked confused and Elizabeth started to understand that he was trapped in this body and situation as much as she. _I want to be free…_ Those words had been a catalyst, launching them back into the craziness of a battle long over.

"Now may be the only time!" Parry. "I love you." Parry. Thrust. He moved closer to her, his voice fervent, his eyes blank. "I've made my choice. What's yours?"

She shook her head. The emotions coursing through her were hers and yet not hers. Had she really felt like this? She didn't remember feeling so confused, so unsure.

"Barbossa!" She did remember shouting that, but she didn't remember watching Will's face crumple up in confusion. Inside, she laughed. No, she hadn't been thinking of Barbossa in such a way. She suddenly realized that at the moment she had made the decision to marry Will, had called to Barbossa, she had had an image of Jack's face flash through her mind, had heard his voice echo in her ears… _Pirate_ …

The self that was herself, or rather her current self, was more than a little surprised. Jack…why had she been thinking of Jack? Remembering his kiss, remembering the proud way he had proclaimed her one of his kind. _Someday you'll come over to my side_. She had but then had rejected it cruelly. She had killed the man she couldn't stop thinking about.

The fight she was in escalated, even as Barbossa agreed to marry them. "Fine then…Dearly beloved we be gathered here today…" As he cursed at the men coming after him, Elizabeth and Will had exchanged their own quick vows, agreeing to be wed.

Elizabeth stood with Will, waiting for Barbossa to continue. After he dispatched two more men, he turned back to them. "As captain, I now pronounce you…" Another man came after him, no doubt recognizing his distraction. He thrust through the man, while Elizabeth and Will took care of two more men who came after them. They managed to stay together, clung together, and both had looked up to Barbossa.

"You may kiss!" Barbossa shouted at them, sounding frustrated with the whole thing.

You may kiss…you may kiss…

That wasn't right.

I now pronounce you…

Elizabeth's voice suddenly came back to her. No longer did she repeat the same words she had spoken all those years ago. She was able to speak with her current voice. "He didn't pronounce us husband and wife!" The words were shouted above the din of the battle around her.

The world went black. The last thing Elizabeth remembered seeing of the scene was the cold, knowing eyes of Calypso.

* * *

 

"Hello, son." Teague Sparrow's voice was deep, gravelly.

"Oh," Jack repeated stupidly. He looked quickly around the room. The men were gone. Just like that. Gone. Disappeared. They hadn't walked off. They didn't even have time to run off. They had just disappeared.

He was left alone with his father.

"You followed me here." It was a statement, not a question.

"Oh Jacky, don't you realize what is going on yet?" His father's voice was soft and resigned. He shook his head.

"Apparently not," Jack muttered to himself.

"I'm not really here, Jacky."

Jack leaned forward and reached out to touch the older man's arm. He was as solid as Jack was. "Another lie, father? There have been so many." The words were cold.

"I know there have, son." _Son…_ It was strange hearing that from the cantankerous old pirate. He had always seemed somewhat embarrassed by Jack. The father had been a known, respected pirate, an old goat who had been through everything and come out of it unscathed. When Teague's father had died, he had passed the Code down to him, entrusting something of utmost importance to a man all could easily trust with it.

Jack had been clumsy in his youth, getting himself into scrapes and then talking circles around the other boys until they were so lost and confused that he could make his escape. He was well known for running away and he had done the greatest disservice to the old pirate that he could have done when he ran from his home. He had set out on his own to have a go at an honest career.

That plan had gotten waylaid when he had crossed Cutler Beckett and been branded a pirate. It was a familiar life for himself and eventually he had come to realize that it was what he was meant to be, Teague or no Teague. But when he had first crawled home to Shipwreck Cove, he had been a hollow man. He had been beaten and attacked by the East India Trading Company, his ship sunk with him on it. He had been forced to bargain with Davy Jones for not only his own life, but the life of his ship, which he rechristened the _Black Pearl_ , after a rare and beautiful type of pearl. One of the many trinkets woven into his hair matched the name of his beloved ship.

His father had never forgiven him for deserting the pirate's life. He had never forgiven him for losing his ship, nor for making a deal with Davy Jones. Jack had been so proud of his deal, yet Teague had just given him a reproachful look and turned away.

It wasn't the first time something Jack had been proud of had displeased his father.

It wasn't the last time either.

He had always been a disappointment to the old man.

"Well, at least you admit you lie." Jack waved a dismissive hand.

"You lie too," the older man shot back.

Jack's eyebrows rose slightly.

"You lie to yourself, Jacky." Jack's eyebrows shot up even further. Words, for once, escaped him.

"What would you know about what I'm thinking?"

"I know a lot more than you would want to know. I was like you once. Young. Brash. Stupid."

"I'm not stupid," Jack shot back.

The older man just made a noise.

"I'm not." The words were accompanied by a slight pout.

"No?" Teague stroked the cover of the book he had on his lap with one hand. "What about the girl?"

"Elizabeth?" Jack sounded confused. "She's not stupid either."

An exasperated sigh. "That's not quite what I meant." The words were humourous.

"I know." Jack winced. "She's not open for discussion."

"Oh?" Teague rose, the book still held underneath one arm. "Then what is?" He looked down at Jack, his look neither curious nor angry.

Jack scrambled to his feet and stepped up the hill, leaned on the chest of gold. He didn't dare open it, though the thought crossed his mind. Immortality often did. His eyes still on the intricate carvings of the chest, he spoke again. "You."

In that one word was a lifetime full of hurt, of anger, of rejection.

Teague remained silent for a time and then finally lifted one hand. Jack's eyes shot up at the movement and met the older man's. They stared each other for a time, taking an assessment of the other man, the truth of his being, the look in his eyes.

Jack almost missed his next words, they were so quiet.

"I'm sorry, Jacky."

* * *

 

The book slammed open on the table, landing with a resounding thud. Elizabeth's eyes flew open. She stood next to Will, who was looking at her strangely. Calypso stood nearby, still with that cold look in her eyes. When Elizabeth's eyes met those cold ones, Calypso did nothing more than silently raise her hand and point.

Tearing her gaze from that of the goddess', Elizabeth turned to look first at the book… _I know that book_ …and then at the man seated in front of it. "Teague," she breathed. She stepped closer to the great Keeper of the Code, a smile on her face.

He raised a hand and remained silent. Elizabeth, confused, stepped back. She looked to Will and was surprised to see him point toward the man as well.

Teague Sparrow turned his gaze back to the book, the _Pyrata Codex_ , and stood to lean over it, one lock of dreadlocked hair falling over his shoulder. He swatted it out of the way, the gesture of a man well used to his hair getting in the way. Flipping two more pages, he traced downward with one beringed finger. He nodded, murmured something to himself, and then looked up to take in all of those in the room.

Elizabeth looked to Will, to Calypso, back to Teague. She had a feeling the entire course of her life had just been decided.

"You're right, Calypso." He sat back down, a slight grin on his face.

"Right about what?" Elizabeth asked. Silence greeted her ears. She looked from one person to the other. Will would not meet her eyes, choosing to instead look away and down, seemingly fascinated with one of his boots. Calypso shook her head and also looked away. Only Teague met her eyes. And smiled.

"The Code is all," he said. It was far too simple of an explanation.

"Right about _what_?" Elizabeth repeated, her voice turning slightly desperate.

"The Code is clear." Calypso agreed. She moved to come between Elizabeth and Will, forcing them to separate.

"Just tell me what she is right about!" She screamed the words. "Tell me!"

Calypso turned to look up at Elizabeth. It felt strange to be looking _down_ on a goddess, but Calypso's human form was, indeed, shorter than Elizabeth. "Elizabeth." The goddess smiled, reached out a hand, and drew her over to stand beside Teague. She pointed to where Teague's finger still rested on the words of the book.

Elizabeth leaned forward and read the words aloud. "A marriage can be performed on a ship only by the captain." She shrugged at that information. That much was known and while Barbossa had not been the official captain of the _Black Pearl_ in those moments, he had been acting as such. That seemed to be perfectly in line. She continued reading. "Both parties must verbally agree to the marriage." _I do._ She could hear her own voice echo in her head. "The marriage is not complete until the captain pronounces the couple as husband and wife." Her eyes shot up to Will's. "We're not married?"

"Not technically, it would seem." Will's voice was quiet.

Calypso stepped away from the pair, removing herself entirely from the scene. She gestured to Teague who, with utmost respect, obeyed the sea goddess' command.

Elizabeth did not watch them go, but instead continued to read the words in the Code. A strange feeling overcame her. She didn't know what it was. She felt…light. As if she were floating in the air, buoyed up by the knowledge she had just gained.

Will stepped closer to her, lifted one of his hands to her chin, and drew her eyes up to his. "Elizabeth," he whispered, the words sad, fervent. "I lived all my life longing for your love, waiting for it, wanting to hold it close and cage it. I gained it for a time…I think."

She felt the tears in her eyes beginning to form and blinked rapidly to try to stave them off. "Will." Her voice broke on the word.

"You are not one to be caged, no matter how pretty the cage." His smile was crooked. "You are a swan, beautiful, graceful, and best when free to ride the waves. You were never meant to be a Turner, to be the wife of a blacksmith…or the wife of the unwitting captain of the _Flying Dutchman_ , for that matter. Neither is fair to you. Both keeps you in a cage."

She nodded. There was no use denying the realities of her life. Freedom was what had become most important of all. The wind in her face, the sea underneath the decks of her ship, wild, uninhibited.

"Like another bird we know, you need to be free to fly." She smiled at the quiet mention of Jack. _Peas in a pod, love…_

"Our marriage…"

"Never was." The words were choked. "I'll always love you, Elizabeth." He leaned into her and kissed her lightly on the lips before stepping back. "You're free."

The scene shifted around her once more, swirled around slowly at first, then began to gain speed. She saw Will, his eyes sad, Calypso and Teague, their looks both completely inscrutable. The room swirled into darkness.

A white flash brought her back to herself. She wasn't disoriented this time. As she looked around herself, she knew exactly where she was and what she was meant to do.


	31. Chapter 30

** Chapter 30 **

Jack stared open-mouthed at the old man. _Sorry_ …It was a word he never thought he'd actually hear from his father's mouth. He had always been, well, very certain that everything he did was right. But…sorry? Was he getting soft?

"No, Jacky. It's just something that needed to be said."

Jack's eyes widened and he moved his head, slowly, up and down. For once, the great Captain Jack Sparrow was at a loss for words.

Teague started to say something else, but then his head shot up and it looked almost as if he were sniffing the air, testing it. He clutched the large book tighter to his chest.

Jack remained where he was, silent, eyebrows raised in confusion.

"She's free," Teague whispered.

"Free? Who's free?" Jack shook his head, entirely unclear as to what his father could possibly mean.

Two things happened in that moment. Teague disappeared. He just simply vanished as if he had never been there. Jack blinked. And then the room came alive. Jack was forced backward by one of the men who had been after him before his father made his appearance.

_Had he even been there?_ Jack was not sure what was hallucination and what was reality anymore.

He tripped over the chair, landing hard on his side, the breath taken out of him for a moment. Taking in a deep breath, he started to stand back up when a booted foot kicked him in the gut and then tramped down on his chest, pinning him to where he lay.

_Barbossa_.

The man laughed. "Think you can escape me _that_ easily, Jack?"

Jack was stuck. Barbossa took his boot off his chest for just a moment and kicked his hand, hard, sending Jack's one means of protection skittering far away from his grasp. Another laugh.

"Now, Hector…you wouldn't strike a man when he's down, now would you?" It was a desperate hope, thinking he could talk his way out of this one. Barbossa wasn't known for giving any quarter.

"You killed me before, Jack. I can't have ya livin' and thinkin' about doin' the same thing again. Don't ya think?" He raised his sword. Jack flinched. "It's over _now_ , Jack." He brought his sword down quickly, cleanly running through Jack's middle.

The victor in this little war threw his head back and laughed.

* * *

 

Everything disappeared around him, falling into shards of colours, lights, textures. The cavern fell into a distant darkness. Barbossa's laugh echoed around him, drawn out, fading into silence as everything around him shrunk to just one stripe of light in the middle of his vision.

When all his senses came back to him, he was on the _Pearl_. All was silent around him. He was alone. Not quite sure how he had come to be there, he smiled. His _Pearl_. His. Again. He started to turn around, to peruse the rest of his ship, touch it, feel the near-living entity that was the _Pearl_ , when he became aware that his wrist was, in actuality, handcuffed to the mast. _Handcuffed? Not again_ …

He had been through this before. He did not want to go through it again.

And then she was there, moving toward him, that confident swagger in her step. He remembered it from before, from the last time she had chained him to the mast. Chained him…he rattled the metal that kept him cuffed to the mast. _This is all backward_.

She was supposed to kiss him first, chain him afterward. She stepped close to him, leaned into him. He could feel her hot breath on his face. "Pirate," he whispered.

She almost kissed him, her lips coming mere inches from his, her eyes flitting downward. "It wasn't the only way. I was desperate, frightened. I didn't know what to do. There were so many other things I could have done."

Those aren't the right words…He still couldn't speak. His mind was trying to force him, trying to make his mouth move, trying to make some words come out, but he couldn't do it. A force that almost felt alive kept him from speaking.

"I _am_ sorry, Jack."

_Backward…all backward_. This wasn't right. He had been here before and yet not here before. Elizabeth had been speaking similar words, in a similar tone of voice, but these all the wrong words. _Not right…not right…_

She leaned in then and brought her lips to his. They were hard against his, brutal, desperate, just as they had been that first time they had kissed. His eyes drifted shut as her hands came up to his shoulder, caressed him roughly, one coming down his arm to lightly touch his manacled wrist.

And then a click…the feeling of the manacle slipping away from him, landing on the deck of the _Pearl_ with a soft thud. His eyes flew open, met the anxious gaze of Elizabeth's.

"You're free," she whispered, pressing her forehead against his for a moment. "We're both free."

"Freedom," he whispered back and brought his hand up where he could see it, flexed the hand, the wrist.

"Freedom," she echoed.

Jack's hand came up to entwine in the hair at the nape of her neck. He pulled her back to him, pressing her lips into his. It was gentler than her harsh kiss of a moment ago, slower, with no anger. She tasted of the sea, as she should. She was a pirate. And she was free.

_She's free_ …

Teague's words came back to him then. _Free_ …she's…free?

He broke off the kiss, searched her eyes. Elizabeth smiled. "How?"

"The marriage was…not complete." One of Jack's eyebrows shot up and she could almost hear his voice in her head. "Not that way." She swatted at his arm, her smile breaking into an outright grin. "Barbossa never finished it. He never pronounced us husband and wife. The Code is clear. The marriage was invalid."

"But Will…"

"Will let me go. He knew…" She paused.

"Knew what?" The words were careful, calculated, and oddly nervous.

Elizabeth laughed, glorying in her freedom, in _their_ freedom. "Like the sparrow, a swan must be free to fly. He threw open the bars of my cage and let me free."

Free. She was free. It was an odd feeling. For so long, she had felt bound to that island, bound to her marriage to Will. She had rattled the bars of the cage around her but had never been able to find the key to free herself. It had eluded her for so long. And then Jack had returned. He had brought her here, to this point in her life, and Will, who possessed the key, had used it to let her fly free.

It was a heady feeling, knowing she could choose to do whatever she wanted with her life right now. Elizabeth's hand went to her belt and freed one of the many objects hanging from it, bringing it up in the palm of her hand.

"What do you want most in the world, Jack?" Her look was sly as she spoke. Jack's eyes immediately dropped to the object she held.

"Open it, Elizabeth." His voice was tight, all emotions hidden.

"I don't need to." She smiled. "I know what I want."

"I can't give you that." The words were accompanied by a sad smile.

"Give me what?"

"I'm a pirate, Elizabeth. I am what I am. I can't change that, not even for you."

It didn't answer her question. "What is it you think I want, Jack?" She sounded slightly exasperated and he cringed slightly, throwing up his hands in defense.

"Marriage, children…a _life_ , Elizabeth, with all the things you're accustomed to."

She cocked her head to the side. "I thought you knew me, Jack. Peas in a pod and all that." She shook her head in amazement. "I am _free_ , Jack. Free of that life of balls, of gilded cages, of corsets and intricate hairstyles that cause my head to ache. _Free_ , Jack. Free of my life bound to the captain of the _Flying Dutchman_. Free to go where I please, do as I please. Free to be a _pirate_ , Jack, what I've always known I should be."

Jack smiled. _Peas in a pod_ …they were indeed. "Then what is it you want?" He needed to hear the words, needed to know he wasn't going to compromise her in any way.

She leaned in close to him, her lips parted, so close to his ear. "You." The word was whispered, just a breath of sound against his ear. It made him shiver, made his eyes drift half closed, made him clench his hands into fists. "Now." She drew the word out, her whispered voice turning harsh.

Jack suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders, his mouth crashing down hard on hers…the continuation of a kiss that had started so long ago, something they both had wanted and yet had pushed away for far too long. She kissed him back, feeling the roughness of his beard on her face, feeling the coarse coat underneath her hands as she brought them to his chest. He bit her lip and she cried out from pain, from surprise, from absolute desire.

Tearing himself away, Jack took in a breath. "Not here…"

"No?" The word was all she could get out, her breathing so erratic and labored she wasn't able to draw in a deep enough breath for more than just that one syllable.

"I don't know where the crew is," he muttered darkly, looking around them. "But I don't intend to find out."

He reached down to her lower arm and started to walk off, pulling her with him. She looked questioningly up at him. "My cabin, love," he said by way of explanation.

The rush to get there was almost as pained as the months, the years, all the time they had waited for this moment. Jack shoved her forward into the cabin and threw the door shut behind them, locking it against any intruders.

This was their moment…finally.


	32. Chapter 31

** Chapter 31 **

Elizabeth woke somewhat disoriented. There were strange noises coming from outside her cabin…no…not _her_ cabin. Jack's cabin. Her eyes flew in to take in everything around her. She was still lying in bed. Jack had already disappeared. _Scoundrel_.

She sighed and stretched on the bed, glorying in the tired, achy feeling of her body. It was strange waking up in man's bed, she suddenly realized. She hadn't even done that with Will. They had only one night, after all. She turned her head to the side, breathed in the scent. _Jack_.

An extraordinary thing really…the sparrow and the swan. Somehow it all fit together well. _Peas in a pod_. He had told her that, early on. She had only known him a short while at that time, but the time that they were stranded together on that island had convinced him she was very much like him. He hadn't been wrong. She hadn't realized it at the time, she hadn't even realized it the second time he had said it, but he was right. They were two sides of the same coin.

Finally realizing that Jack was, indeed, not returning to bed, Elizabeth rose and found her clothes. They were scattered across the ground, evidence of their hasty removal the night before. She grinned in remembrance. Jack had been…exuberant…to say the least.

The first shirt she found was not hers and she laughed when she discovered several buttons missing. Looking to the ground, she found one of them lying near her feet. She picked it up and decided if it went missing, Jack wasn't likely to notice.

The next shirt she found was indeed hers, but it was in tatters. She didn't remember Jack ripping it so violently, so desperate to get to what was underneath. She tried to tug it over her head, but found it was too torn to adequately cover her body. Sighing, she looked around the room and found a new shirt carefully folded over the one chair in the room. A smile. Jack had left it there for her. _How endearing_. And surprising. She didn't except such a gesture from the man. Her lover he might be, and he might care about her in some way, but she would never delude herself into thinking him capable of the sort of sweet, enduring love that Will had had.

Will would have been the perfectly devoted husband.

But that wasn't she wanted. She wanted the freedom and excitement that Jack Sparrow represented. She wanted the blazing passion, not the sweet love. It was strange to finally not only realize that about herself, but to also come to terms with it. She didn't need love. She needed passion. She needed Jack.

She threw the shirt over her head. It was much larger than she expected. _Jack's_. It would do for now. She tucked it into her pants as she pulled them up, shoving the button she had found into the pocket and quickly donning her coat and hat. Suitably dressed, she headed out of Jack's cabin.

She was surprised to see the men back on the ship, moving rapidly around her. Some were clearing the deck, others checking the sails. Everywhere she looked she saw faces she recognized and she smiled. "Marty!" she exclaimed as the bald little man came around the corner.

"Miss Elizabeth!"

"How did you get here? Where did you come from?" She had always had a fondness for Marty. The little man worked harder than anyone else she knew on any of the ships she had been on.

"Cotton and I and some of the other men. We didn't like what Barbossa done to Jack. Wasn't right, it wasn't. Locked us up in the brig he did. Gibbs found us when they got on board."

Elizabeth smiled. "I'm glad someone stuck by Jack." She reached out a hand and patted Marty on the shoulder.

Marty shrugged, his face turning a little pink. "The captain's up near the helm." He hooked a thumb over his shoulder and his face broke out into a full grin. She looked in that direction, her face red, and saw the captain standing near the wheel, hands clasped behind his back.

She hesitated. Jack turned to her then and even from a distance, she could see the twinkle in his eyes. He gestured with one hand and Elizabeth stepped away from Marty to join Jack at the helm.

She didn't see, as she walked away, Gibbs walk up to Marty with a grin on his face. Nor did she see the exchange of money. But she did see the dark look cross over Jack's face and she turned around to glance behind her in time to see Gibbs and Marty part, a sad looking Marty shaking his head.

"What was that about?" Her voice was mildly curious.

"Bets, love."

"Bets?" Elizabeth's confused eyes met Jack's. His were amused. She didn't care for that look.

"Yes, Elizabeth, bets. Gibbs has had an ongoing bet about…us…since we first boarded the _Bonny Lass_. In fact, rumour has it that it was a continuation of a bet he started long ago on the _Pearl_."

"A bet…on us." She said the words slowly.

"On when _things_ would happen?" The words were pointed.

"Even back then, love. They all saw it." She nodded dumbly. "So how does it feel to be free, Elizabeth?"

She smiled, her eyes sweeping out over the sea around them. "Right." She looked back to Jack. "It feels right. Finally."

Jack smiled and both pairs of eyes went back to staring out to sea.

"We'll be ready to leave soon."

A sobering reality. "Where to?" She didn't ask the questions that were weighing so heavily on her mind. Would she still captain the _Bonny Lass_? Would she lose Jack, just as she once lost Will? She laid no claims to Jack, just as he laid no claims to her. Their lives were transient as they both wanted. But still…he was a friend, a lover. Losing him so soon after they settled things between them, so soon after they were freed from the anger over the wounds they had inflicted on each other, would certainly pain her.

"Come back to my cabin, Miss Swann." He stepped forward, swept a hand in that direction as he bowed slightly.

"Already, Jack?" She grinned, leaned a little closer to him. "I'm still aching from last night."

His face broke into a wide smile. "As appealing as that might sound, love, I only want to show you something…this time." He winked at her.

She stepped past him, a sly smirk on her face, and led the way back to his cabin, terribly curious about what he had to show her. Of course, she also didn't mind too much if things _did_ result in a bit of a certain kind of distraction.

* * *

 

"It's good to be back, Marty." Gibbs looked around him at the activity on the _Pearl_. Deck hands were scrubbing down the deck, getting rid of all evidence that Barbossa had taken it over for a time. They did it without asking Jack. They all knew what the captain wanted.

Gibbs was still trying to figure out what had really happened here, how they had come to find themselves on the _Pearl_. He remembered being in the cavern. He remembered Jack acting odd and Elizabeth departing in some sort of attempt to reclaim him. Gibbs had set off to return to the ship, but had quickly changed his mind. Jack had needed him. Elizabeth had needed him. When he had tried to turn the boat around, he found he was unable to. No matter which way he had rowed, the boat continued on its way out of the cavern. With one final look backward, he had sighed, given in, and let the current take him out of the cavern.

All had been silent on the _Bonny Lass_ when he had returned. The men were gone. It was strange walking around the ship, everything familiar and yet off in some way. He had wondered many times where they all had gone. There was no sign of a battle, no sign of anything at all. The ship was just silent, creaking slightly in the gentle breeze.

He had spent what had felt like hours watching the shoreline, waiting for Jack or Elizabeth or someone from their crew to appear. After a time, he had even hoped to see a sign of Barbossa or one of his crew.

No one had appeared, however, and eventually Gibbs had tired of watching for a sign of someone and had sat down, almost immediately falling asleep.

His dreams had been strange, disjointed. He had finally woken up feeling a bit disoriented. It had been dark and he had sat up quickly, wondering how long he had slept and worried that no one had returned. His head had immediately collided with something above him and he had realized he was in his cabin. _Odd_. He hadn't remembered leaving the deck.

When he had stepped out of his cabin and looked around, he had realized two things right away. Much of his crew was on the ship with him. They had looked as disoriented as he felt, almost as if they were all waking up from the same strange dream. And they were not on the _Bonny Lass_ anymore. He was the only one who would know exactly where they found themselves.

"The _Black Pearl_ ," he had whispered. There had been no sign of Barbossa or his crew and it seemed the ship was now theirs for the taking. He had taken command, for that time, and had the men begin the process of getting the ship ready to make sail. Barbossa hadn't had much time to ruin the ship this time around, so it just needed a good scrubbing and a handful of repairs.

"Thanks for rescuing us." Rare words from a quiet man. While Gibbs had been keeping an eye on the men cleaning the deck, he had heard a strange commotion coming from down below. Rushing down, he had found Marty, Cotton, even Cotton's parrot, and a few other men sitting in the brig, left there to rot by Barbossa. They had defended Jack and had gotten a death sentence for it.

"We're glad to have you back." They were hard workers all, even the newer crew members who had turned tail and run from the Royal Navy after the battle with the East India Trading Company.

The two men fell into silence for a time before Marty spoke again. "How about that captain and Miss Elizabeth?"

Gibbs grinned. "I always knew."

"Aye." Marty nodded. When the men had found themselves on the ship they had heard strange noises coming from the captain's cabin. After they had gone over to listen, the men had all quickly left. It was clear what was going on in _that_ cabin. "Where do you think we'll go next?"

"I've no idea, Marty. But if I know the cap'n as I think I do, it'll be after some ancient treasure. We're due somethin' nice."

The two parted ways then, each returning to their respective duties, each dreaming of the treasure that was to be had and the adventures they would have along the way.

* * *

 

Jack slowly opened the rolled up map onto the table in his cabin, Elizabeth eagerly looking on. When it was completely unrolled, she shuddered and her eyes shot to Jack's. _End of the world…Sao Feng…Davy Jones' Locker…_ It brought back far too many memories, some she would really not wish to have floating around in her mind just now. "You still have it?"

He met her eyes and grinned. "Of course. It hasn't left my person since I obtained it."

Elizabeth looked down at it curiously. "What happened to the rest of it?" The outer part of the map was missing, torn away, leaving only the circular center. The rest had been unnecessary, granted, but she found it odd that it was missing.

"That's a story for another day." The amused glint in his eyes told her it would be a story she indeed did want to hear…another day. She nodded.

Jack turned the sections of the map and she saw several familiar words float by… _Up is down_ … _Over the edge over again_ … _Sunrise sets flash of green_ …And then a new group of words, one she hadn't ever noticed on the map before. She read the words slowly. "Aqua de vida. What is it Jack?"

"Have you not heard the legend of the fountain of youth?"

She shook her head.

"Really?" The word was sly. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, drew her closer to the map. "Somewhere off the coast of the New World, purportedly lies an amazing spring. Drinking from it restores you to the height of your youth. But bathing in it…ah, love. Bathing in it makes you _immortal_."

Her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Think on it, Lizzie. The _immortal_ Captain Jack Sparrow." His eyes got a strange look for a moment, as if he were remembering something from a long time back.

"The immortal Captain Elizabeth Swann." She liked the sound of that.

"Yes." He drew the word out into a hiss. "Are you with me love?"

"We'll go there together?" she asked, surprised.

He didn't say anything, just grinned at her.

She smiled back. The two were standing close together and the moment was quiet, intimate, a slight facing of the fact that their lives would always be intertwined in some way.

Finally, Elizabeth spoke, the words half sung, half spoken. "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me." Jack finished the line with her, joining his whispery voice with hers.

It was a new beginning for them, a time to write new stories of the great Captain Jack Sparrow and his fiery and wicked lady, Captain Elizabeth Swann, King of Pirates.


	33. Epilogue

** Epilogue **

Elizabeth stood on the deck of the _Bonny Lass_ and watched her crew finish the final preparations for their journey. Not far away, anchored nearby, was the _Black Pearl_. She could see Jack standing up near the helm of the ship, looking out to see with his spyglass. She remembered a time, long ago, when she had checked the compass and had turned to see him doing that same thing. She smiled. Back then she had been horrified at the direction her thoughts were taking.

But now?

Now she was just fine with it.

The compass she no longer had, however. She had given it back to Jack. No matter what she thought in her mind, the compass pointed only one place. She was content with it now. Jack was able to get their heading from it and they were preparing to shove off together.

They had discussed what to do about the _Bonny Lass_ and their interest in traveling together…for a time at least. Both knew that this could be a temporary arrangement, that perhaps someday they would part ways for a time. Freedom at all costs. Right now this was what they both wanted and they would allow it to play out as it would. Elizabeth was to captain the _Bonny Lass_ , just as planned, and the two ships would travel together in search of the Fountain of Youth.

At one point they had both been chained…he to his mast, she to an island. Now they were free and part of that freedom included not chaining each other again.

"We're ready to shove off, cap'n." Bradshaw. He was now her First Mate and most trusted advisor. He was a solid man with a good head on his shoulders and he made a very good First Mate. The entire crew had shaped up a bit and although they still needed a bit of work, having them work side by side with the more experienced crew of the _Black Pearl_ would help get them completely into shape.

She turned to smile at Bradshaw. "Excellent." She stepped away from him and moved close to the rail, waiting for Jack to finish his words with his own crew.

Finally Jack walked to the same spot on his ship and looked across at her. Only thirty feet or so separated the two of them, close enough for her to see the huge grin on his face.

"Ready to shove off, love?" he shouted across to her.

She smiled back at him. "Aye!" She paused, took in another deep breath, and closed her eyes briefly, reveling in the excitement of leaving on a new adventure. Opening her eyes, she shouted over to Jack. "Take what ya can!"

"Give nothing back!" he shouted back to her. They turned away from each simultaneously, coats whipping out around them. Orders were shouted from each captain to their individual crews. Men jumped into action.

The two ships drew up anchor and set sail. The two captains, each standing at the fore of their respective ships, smiled in relief as they set out upon the sea in search of the famed Fountain of Youth.

Elizabeth felt the salty air hit her face as her ship picked up speed, finally understanding what the word _freedom_ really meant.


End file.
